Princes of Death
by chibi-kyuubi
Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo’s reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City?
1. Karakura’s Visitors

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 1: Karakura's Visitors

It has been a peaceful day so far for Kurosaki Ichigo, substitute shinigami. Days like this have become a rarer and rarer occasion for the high school boy ever since he came back from Soul Society. And with the threat of the rogue shinigami captain, Azien Sousuke and his cohorts looming over Ichigo's hometown, even the most pleasant days become nothing more than time spent worrying over the safety of his friends and loved ones. This sunny Saturday morning for instance, has passed with Ichigo lying on his bed the entire time, doing nothing in particular. He just laid there, eyes closed, unmoving.

Trying to feel the reiatsu of everyone in Karakura Town is an extremely difficult task, and required all of Ichigo's attention. He recognized the reiatsu of his friends at once: Inoue was with Tatsuki at the school gym, Ishida was somewhere near the hospital, Chad and Renji were at Urahara's, and Rukia was at the living room with his sisters. But Ichigo didn't need to sense her reiatsu to know that. They made so much noise that it was starting to bother him. He could also sense the reiatsu Toushiro and the other shinigami as they patrolled around town, always working in pairs.

The real challenge for Ichigo however, was not to locate his friends, but to search for any sign of trouble that could be caused by hollows, or worse, by one of Aizen's men. Ichigo didn't find anything that could be potentially dangerous, but he noticed unfamiliar reiatsu coming from the eastern border of town. But before he could focus on the group – he realized that it wasn't only one person, but several people with above average spiritual force in close proximity – the door of his room suddenly swung open and Rukia barged in with Yuzu and Karin, and broke his concentration

"Don't you know how to knock?" Ichigo scowled at Rukia.

"Why didn't you lock your door if you were doing something private?" Rukia retorted.

"Ichi-ni, would you like to go the park with us today?" Yuzu interrupted before the two broke into an oral argument.

"I'm sorry Yuzu, not today," Ichigo replied.

"Why? Have you become busy all of a sudden?" Karin said sarcastically.

"Alright, alright, what is this all about?" Ichigo asked.

"There's an exhibition match between our school's boy's tennis club and the Kantou region champions today," Yuzu said. "They're holding it at the public tennis courts in the park. I was wondering if you would like to come with us and watch."

"Since when did you become interested in tennis?" Ichigo gave his sister an inquisitive look.

"Some of our friends are in the tennis club," Karin answered for her sister.

"And there are rumors that the boys from the other team are very attractive," Rukia added.

"You don't need me to go boy-watching," Ichigo put his arms across his chest and looked away from the three girls in front of him.

"Please?" Yuzu said with a teary-eyed look her face. She knew that Ichigo, or any older brother for that matter could never, ever resist 'the look.'

"You wouldn't let us girls hang around the park without an escort aren't you?" Rukia added, trying to imitate Yuzu. Ichigo thought 'the look' doesn't suit Rukia at all.

"Fine," Ichigo said after a few moments of silence. "I'll just change then we can go."

"Thank you ni-san," Yuzu said as they politely left the room to let Ichigo change.

_The park is at the eastern side of town, _Ichigo thought as he put on his sneakers. He then opened his closet and grabbed a stuffed animal inside. "Kon, wake up! You're coming with me."

* * *

The Seishun Gakuen bus arrived at Karakura Park an hour ahead of schedule, which was more than enough time for the Seigaku tennis team to warm up before their exhibition matches. A few days ago, their coach Ryuzaki Sumire received mail from her friend who was the coach of Karakura Jr. High tennis club. It was an invitation for a series exhibition matches between the two tennis clubs, and she agreed to participate, reasoning that it would be good practice for everyone. Although she herself wouldn't be able to join them because of an earlier appointment, she trusted the team captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu enough to let him manage the team in her absence. He hasn't encountered any problems during the trip so far, except for the usual quarrel between the second year rivals Momoshiro Takeshi and Kaidoh Kaoru.

The Seigaku regulars were already at their second lap around the park when they felt the ground suddenly shake beneath them, followed by sound of an explosion not far from where they were.

"Is everyone alright?" The team vice-captain Oishi Shuuicihrou said as he looked around to check if everyone was there. The sound of people screaming and car alarms could be heard from a distance.

"What was that?" His doubles partner Kikumaru Eiji asked. "Is it a terrorist attack?"

"I don't know," Oishi answered. Suddenly they heard another explosion, this time it sounded much closer to their position.

"At any rate, we should go to a safer place," Tezuka said.

"If it is indeed a terrorist attack, then we would be safer if we go to a place with fewer people." Inui Sadaharu, the brains of the team suggested. "There's a soccer field 30 meters from here. It was empty when we passed by it earlier."

"Alright, we'll go to the soccer field as Inui suggested. Everyone should stay close to each other," Tezuka ordered. "Don't let your guards down."

* * *

Ichigo, Rukia, Karin, and Yuzu were almost at the park when they heard the wailing sound of police sirens. When they got to the street where the park entrance was located, they were surprised to see not only police cars, but several ambulances and a couple of fire trucks as well, all lined up in front of the park. People rushed out of the gates with a shocked expression on their faces. Police officers and firemen assisted the terrified park-goers, but the situation still looked disorderly.

"What happened here?" Yuzu said. A hint of fear was on her voice.

"I don't know Yuzu," Karin moved a little closer to her sister. "But I'm getting a bad feeling about this place."

It didn't take long for Ichigo to recognize the chilling presence there, and he felt his blood drain when he did. He looked over at Rukia who has also realized what was happening.

"Menos Grande," The two of them said at the same time.

"Karin! Yuzu! Get as far away from here as possible," Ichigo said. His voice was already quivering. "We'll be right behind you."

"But ni-san!" Yuzu protested. She didn't want to leave her brother and Rukia amidst all the chaos around them.

"Let's go Yuzu," Karin pulled her sister's arm and then nodded towards Ichigo and Rukia. "Don't take too long."

* * *

Notes: Not much PoT in this chapter, but the Seigaku guys are going to be the main characters of the story. Otherwise, I wouldn't have placed the story under the Tennis no Ojisama category in the first place. Also, the title should have been "A High-spirited Saga," but the site removes dashes from the story titles so I changed it again. Besides, "Princes of Death" sounds much cooler ne? Please review after reading, I would really appreciate it. 


	2. Death and Tennis

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 2: Death and Tennis

"Echizen, are you feeling alright?" Oishi asked. The only freshman regular of Seigaku boy's tennis club, Echizen Ryoma, has always kept his cool. But now, for some unknown reason, he couldn't keep himself still. He paced back and forth, looking around as if something was out there to get him. It has already been half an hour since they arrived at the deserted soccer field but Echizen still felt uneasy.

"Maybe he's just scared," Momoshiro teased. "Don't worry baby, Momochan-senpai will protect you from the baddies."

"You're in no position to say such things Momo-senpai," Echizen said. "Your breathing hasn't even slowed down since we got here."

"What's the matter Echizen?" Tezuka said. He also noticed that even though they appear to be safe, no one on the team could themselves to relax.

"You can feel it too, can't you?" Echizen's face looked like he's never been more serious in his life. "It's like something's telling us that we shouldn't be standing here."

* * *

"Kon, take care of my sisters no matter what," Ichigo said to the modified soul occupying his body. Now that he's a shinigami, the presence of the Menos Grande seems even more chilling. Hair stood at the back of his neck and his palms started to sweat just from the exposure to the hollow's vile aura.

"Sure thing," Kon replied. Then he headed off towards the same direction Karin and Yuzu took earlier.

"Follow Ichigo's sisters and help Kon protect them if necessary," Rukia instructed to the temporary soul in her gigai.

"Let's go Rukia," Ichigo said. It took them only a couple of flash steps until the gigantic Menos became visible. It was as tall as a building, and its white face hovered above the nearby structures. An orb of crimson energy accumulated in front of the creature's mouth as it turned around to face its target.

"Oh my central 46, it's going to fire a cero at that group of boys over there," Rukia said, indicating the clearing ahead. "If they get hit by that, not even an atom will be left from them."

"Damn," Ichigo cursed. He knew very well how damaging a cero blast could be.

"We won't make it in time," Rukia said between flash steps.

"I know!" Ichigo shouted in frustration. _Even if I use flash step I wouldn't be able to reach the Menos before it releases a cero… But I might still be able to save them!_ "Bankai!"

However, before Ichigo could release the final form of his sword, the Menos had already fired a cero towards the Seigaku regulars. Rukia watched in terror as the crimson beam poured forth from the giant's mouth. But before the tennis players got disintegrated by the tainted ray, Ichigo managed to reach them in time and shield them with an umbrella of his own reiatsu. Ichigo was able to deflect the cero, but by the time the residual energy around him subsided, the Menos had already escaped.

* * *

Meanwhile, Echizen had absolutely no idea on what was happening. First he heard an explosion right above them, and then every part of his body suddenly felt very heavy. It took all his energy just to keep his eyelids open as his body fell on the ground. But before everything around him turned black, he was able to discern a figure standing in front of him, an orange-haired boy wearing black clothing and carrying a sword with a black blade.

* * *

Rukia examined the Seigaku regulars that have lost consciousness in the middle of the grassy soccer field. "All of them are still alive," She said.

Ichigo gave a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear."

"They just passed out because of the immense spiritual pressure from you and the Menos Grande," Rukia added. "They'll probably wake up in a couple of hours."

"What do you mean Menos Grande?" Ichigo asked. "I thought I shielded them from the cero."

"But not from the hollow's leftover energy," Rukia said. "It was all over the place after the Menos escaped. Normally, Soul Society would place spatial stasis around battles like this to prevent other souls from being affected. I don't think it would have mattered in this situation though, because they were right in the middle of everything."

"I still find it odd that the Menos decided to fire a cero at them," Ichigo said. "What would it gain by killing them? If it just wanted to kill people, then it could have just fired a cero on the streets."

"Menos are harder to understand than normal hollows," Rukia explained. "They are ten times more intelligent the average hollow and fact that they are made from several entities makes them react differently in certain situations."

"Well, I have to check on Yuzu and Karin," Ichigo said. "Let's go."

"You go ahead," Rukia said as she took out her shinigami phone. "I'll call the hospital so they can send people to take care of these guys while they're unconscious."

"Alright, but don't take too long. That temporary soul of yours freaks me out sometimes." Ichigo said before disappearing.

"Hello? This is Kuchiki Rukia. Ichigo has just fought a Menos Grande here at the park and used bankai without spatial stasis on the area or a soul limiter on him. I have reason to believe that their battle has caused some… repercussions; nine of them to be exact. Please come here and check on them. Oh, and call the hospital after you're done assessing the situation. I forgot their telephone number."

* * *

Notes: I added the scene at the end with Rukia and Ichigo because the chapter seemed to be too short when I first posted it. Still not much PoT in this chapter, but the real story starts on the next one, so please continue reading. Don't forget to review, I would really appreciate it. 


	3. Awakenings

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga 

Author: chibi-kyuubi 

Genre: Action/Adventure/General 

Rating: K+ 

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions? 

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 3: Awakenings 

Echizen woke up a few hours later at a bed inside a hospital. Even though it was just a little past dinner time, Echizen felt like he could eat a horse. In fact, when he thought about it, he has never been so hungry in his life. Without getting up, he turned his head to look around and see if anyone else was in the room. He was happy to find Momoshiro there, sitting on a chair to his right, wearing similar hospital clothes, helping himself to a container of yogurt. The second year noticed that Echizen was already awake and immediately jumped into the younger boy's bed, hugging him with one arm. 

"Ah, I can't breathe Momo-senpai," Echizen said as he tried to free himself from the taller boy. 

"You were sleeping for too long," Momoshiro said, grinning. "Everyone else woke up before you did." 

"You mean everyone also passed out?" Echizen asked. Too many questions were now popping into his mind. "Where are we? How did I get here? What really happened back there? My body suddenly felt very heavy then I fainted." 

"Slow down, Echizen," Momoshiro said. "First of all we're at a private hospital in Karakura Town. Someone found us all unconscious at the soccer field and called for ambulances. I don't have a clear memory of what happened back there but I guess I felt the same way as you did." 

The door to Echizen's room opened, and Kikumaru stepped in, carrying a tray full of hospital food. 

"Ochibi is awake already?" Kikumaru said. "Perfect timing, I have your food right here. I bet you must be really hungry." 

"How did you know Kikumaru-senpai?" Echizen wondered. 

"Well, when I woke up I felt like I haven't eaten for a year," Kikumaru answered. "And when I told Oishi about it, he said that everyone felt the same way when they got up. Momo here almost bit off the nurse's hand thinking that it was food." 

"Kikumaru-senpai!" Momoshiro said as his face turned red with embarrassment. Echizen tried his best not to laugh out loud. 

"Here you go," Kikumaru said as he placed the food tray on Echizen's lap. "Oh, in case you're wondering, Tezuka, Oishi, and Inui are at the nurses' station calling up Ryuuzaki-sensei and our families, Kaidoh is still eating at his room, while Taka-san and Fuji went out to eat real food, not this hospital junk" 

"The doctors allowed them to go out?" Echizen asked. 

"Yeah," Momoshiro answered. "They said we just fainted from exhaustion and that we should be okay after a few hours of rest." 

"They didn't find it odd that we all fainted at almost the same?" Echizen wondered. 

"Now that you mention it, it does seem weird," Kikumaru said. 

"Hurry up eating, Echizen," Momoshiro interrupted. "After you finish that, let's go out and feast on some fine burgers. Want to go with us Kikumaru-senpai?" 

"Sure," Kikumaru answered. He looked at Echizen and saw a terrified expression on the freshman's face. "What's wrong ochibi?" 

Echizen almost choked on a grape. He just saw a woman wearing hospital clothes and a chain on her chest walk through the wall in front of him, or he thought she did. _Did that woman just pass through the wall? And is it just my imagination or was she floating as well?_ Echizen shook his head. _Nah, maybe I'm still a little dizzy from what happened earlier._

"Echizen?" Momoshiro and Kikumaru asked at the same time. 

"It's nothing senpais," Echizen said. _I hope it is._

* * *

Meanwhile, Kaidoh sat on his bed, leaning against the headboard. He was still eating and at the same time reflecting on what had just happened to them. He was probably the last one to pass out from the group as he can still remember seeing his teammates drop one by one on the ground. He couldn't understand why they fainted like that; he just remembered feeling like something was pushing them down towards the ground. But what Kaidoh really couldn't figure out was that he remembered seeing an orange-haired boy wearing a black hakama, protecting them from a giant monster wearing a scary white mask. The second year had almost finished eating when a pale-faced old man suddenly appeared in front of him. But before Kaidoh could politely ask what the old man was doing there, he realized, to his horror that the old man was in fact, translucent, and that his entire body passed through a chair. The terrified second year jumped out of his bed and ran as fast as he could, his heart racing, towards the nurses' station.

* * *

The team's main powerhouse, Kawamura Takashi sat across the prodigy Fuji Syusuke at a table inside a café several blocks away from the hospital. Kawamura was already helping himself to his fourth slice of chocolate cake when he noticed that Fuji was staring at his direction. 

"Is there something wrong Fuji?" He asked. 

"It's nothing Taka-san," Fuji answered, smiling like he always did. For a second there, he thought he saw a ghost walk past the wall behind Kawamura. He brought his attention back to the person sitting in front him and leaned forward a little to reach the straw of his iced coffee. "You know what I just realized Taka-san? We never had a chance to eat dinner like this." 

"Didn't we eat dinner at a café last year? Yamada-san's family owns a café and he treated us there on his birthday didn't he?" Kawamura said, obviously puzzled by what Fuji just told him. 

"Yes he did," Fuji answered, amused at the other boy's clueless-ness. "What I meant was that we never had a chance to eat dinner with just the two of us." 

"Ah," Kawamura blushed at his own stupidity. "You see I-" 

But before Kawamura could say another word, he heard a sharp, deafening howl that made him cover his ears. He looked at Fuji, who apparently heard the same thing and was also covering his ears. But when he looked at the other people inside the café, he was surprised to see that no one else seemed to have heard the howling. Either that or everyone else has an insanely high noise tolerance. He looked back at Fuji and asked, "What's happening? What's making that awful noise?" 

"I don't know either Taka-san," Fuji answered. He couldn't even hear himself talking because of the shrieking noises. "But whatever it is, I suggest that we stay away from it as much as possible." 

Fuji and Kawamura left enough money at the table and ran as fast as they could away from the source of the horrid noise. But even though they had already ran past several blocks, the howling sounds haven't decreased a bit. It was then that Fuji realized something so terrible that it made him shiver just thinking about it. Whatever it was that was causing the shrieking noises was following them.

* * *

Notes: In case anyone's wondering, Yamada-san is just a common friend of Fuji and Kawamura that I made up, and has no significance to the story. Please review after reading. 


	4. Coach's Decision

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 4: Coach's Decision

"So, what did Ryuuzaki-sensei say?" Oishi asked as he saw Tezuka put down the telephone receiver.

"She told me that we should take a break and just rest for three days," Tezuka said as he adjusted his eyeglasses.

"Isn't three days a little too much?" Oishi said. "Even though it's summer vacation, we still need to practice for the Nationals."

"I know," Tezuka said. "I told her the same thing but she insisted that we take a break. She even instructed that we save the trip back home until we are fully recovered." Tezuka handed a piece of paper to Oishi. "Here are the details of our accommodations for the next three days. The coach already prepared everything for us."

"So it seems," Inui said without even looking at two. He's been writing non-stop in his notebook since he got it back "Even if we try to go home earlier, and Ryuuzaki-sensei probably thinks we will; it seems that our bus has already left town right after it dropped off our bags here." Inui turned back a page from his notebook. "Public transport is an alternative of course, but because of the suspected terrorist attack earlier, the local government is putting a limit on the number of public utility vehicles moving in and out of town. I saw it on the news as we passed the TV at the lobby. If that's the case, the chances of us finding a bus heading for Tokyo tonight or tomorrow with nine empty seats would be 5.5 percent. We have better chances on Monday and Tuesday though."

"She's really serious about this isn't she?" Oishi said as he examined the piece of paper Tezuka gave him. The address and phone number of the hotel they were supposed to stay at were written in what Oishi immediately recognized as Tezuka's handwriting. But on the other side of the paper, written in small but recognizable characters, was the name of a person that Oishi didn't know, as well as an address to a store of some kind. He ignored it, thinking that Tezuka probably used scratch paper. "I guess we have no choice then." Oishi sighed. "Besides, it's the coach's orders so it's probably the best for us."

"Kaidoh!" Tezuka said as he saw the second year suddenly appear in the hallway, running towards them. The junior's face was pale and his skin was covered with cold sweat. By the time he reached the nurses' station, he was trembling and couldn't even stand up without Tezuka supporting him.

"What happened?" Oishi's voice was full of worry. The only time he saw Kaidoh like that was when Inui told them that stupid story about a cursed racket.

Kaidoh's couldn't look straight at his senpais as he struggled to get the words out of his mouth. "T-there i-is a g-ghost i-in m-my r-room."

Inui almost dropped his notebook when he heard the word 'ghost.'

"Inui, do you know what he is talking about?" Tezuka noticed Inui's surprised reaction.

"I think I do." Inui said as he aligned is eyeglasses. "We should go check his room as soon as possible."

"I'll stay here with Kaidoh, you two go ahead," Oishi offered.

"Alright," Tezuka said. He glanced once more at Kaidoh before passing him to Oishi. The poor second year really did look like he saw a ghost. "Let's go Inui."

As the two seniors briskly walked towards Kaidoh's room, Inui reviewed the data he has collected since he woke up an hour ago. _Number of people seen passing through walls and objects: 6. Number of people seen hovering above the floor: 3. Number of people seen that are translucent: 4. Probability that I have suddenly become mentally unbalanced: 99.8 percent._ Inui crossed out that last line. _It looks like my data isn't enough for a conclusion after all.

* * *

_

"Buchou?" Echizen has just finished eating when he saw Tezuka and Inui pass by the open door.

"Echizen, you're awake already," Tezuka noticed the freshman and stopped abruptly to acknowledge him. Inui almost bumped into Tezuka but he was able to stop himself before he crashed into his captain.

"Where are you going buchou?" Momoshiro asked.

"To Kaidoh's room," Tezuka said. "But we're in a hurry so-"

"Kaidoh's not in his room," Kikumaru interrupted. "I saw him run past here a while ago."

"We know. We just talked to him at the nurses' station," Inui said. "He said he saw a ghost in his room. We're going to investigate."

"I knew it," Momoshiro said, smiling. "Kaidoh's such a scaredy-cat when it comes to supernatural stuff."

"I'd like to see his room as well," Echizen said as he set aside the food tray, almost spilling orange juice on the bed. Inui noticed that the freshman was a little distracted. Echizen clumsily got out of his bed and joined the seniors outside.

"Me too!" Kikumaru almost jumped out of the room in excitement.

"Hey, don't leave me here!" Momoshiro said as he followed the others.

* * *

"Everyone, keep quiet," Tezuka said as they approached Kaidoh's room. "There's someone inside. Don't let your guards down."

The five regulars peeked through the open door and were surprised to find two strange-looking men standing in the middle of the room, conversing casually. They wore black hakamas and carried swords like samurai.

"Seriously, this isn't a job for someone from to the eleventh squad," the taller of the two said, arms crossed across his chest in defiance. His head was shaved and it reflected light from the fluorescent lightbulb on the ceiling.

"You're such a whiner Ikkaku," the other person said. He had dark violet hair and what seem to be red and yellow feathers on his right eyebrow and eyelash. "How many times do I have to remind you that purifying hollows isn't a shinigami's only job? Performing konsoh on good souls is just as important."

"Then why don't you do it yourself Yumichika?" Ikkaku said.

"Alright," the other shinigami turned around and lowered his body as if trying to reach something on the floor. "Don't be afraid of my beauty old man. I'll send you to a better place than this."

To Momoshiro, Kikumaru, Tezuka, and Echizen's surprise, the translucent head of an old man rose from the floor as if it was passing straight through the concrete and the carpet. The Seigaku players watched as Yumichika drew out his soul slayer and pressed the bottom of the hilt against the old man's forehead. There was a flash of light and the old man disappeared. Momoshiro almost shouted in surprise when a black moth suddenly flew past his face, but Kikumaru was able to cover the junior's mouth in time.

"Did you hear that?" Yumichika looked around, but the Seigaku members managed to withdraw their heads before he looked towards the doorway.

"It's probably from the other room," Ikkaku said. "Besides, people can't see or hear us anyway."

"I guess you're right," Yumikichika said, still looking around for something suspicious. "But the aura of this place feels strange doesn't it?"

"Yeah, like something's confusing my senses," Ikkaku said, although that fact doesn't seem to bother him at all. "Well, we can't detect hollows if we stay here. Let's just go."

"Alright," Yumichika said, though he looked like he wanted to stay longer and investigate.

By time Tezuka and the others peeked into the room again, the two men were already gone. All the windows were closed and there was no other way out of the room except for the door they were looking through. The tennis players fell down sitting on the floor and a few minutes of silence passed between them as they tried figure out what they had just witnessed. Only the scribbling of Inui's pen could be heard from the group until Momoshiro finally spoke up.

"We all saw that, right?" The second year wanted to make sure he wasn't just imagining things.

"Yeah," Echizen and Kikumaru nodded.

"Inui, do you have any ideas on what's going on?" Tezuka asked.

"I have several theories on the matter," Inui stopped writing and closed his notebook. "My data on this is far from complete, but if my theories have any semblance to the truth, it would be best for me to share them when everyone is here."

* * *

Meanwhile, Oishi couldn't sit still at the nurses' station. Kaidoh sat beside him and was already calm after a nurse gave him something to drink. However, the vice captain still couldn't stop worrying. He tried to call Fuji's mobile phone but it was turned off and Kawamura wasn't answering his.

"Is there something wrong Oishi-senpai?" Kaidoh asked.

"I don't know why, but I have this ill feeling that Taka-san and Fuji are in grave danger."

* * *

"This is bad," Kawamura said.

"Yes it is," Fuji agreed. After several minutes of trying to flee from the hollow that was after them, the two seniors made a wrong turn and ended up on the dead end of an alley. The wild howling noise sounded terribly close, and both of them knew that whatever was following them will be on the other side of the alley anytime soon.

* * *

Notes: Please review after reading, I would really appreciate it. I have also posted revised versions of the previous chapters as well as this one. Thanks to all those who have posted their reviews. I found some of them very helpful. 


	5. Friendships

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 5: Friendships

Kawamura and Fuji couldn't believe how unlucky their day was. First their exhibition matches were interrupted by a terrorist attack, and then they were chased by this invisible, howling monster, and now they have made a wrong turn and ended up at the dead end of an alley with three of the four directions blocked by buildings and the other one by the creature they were trying to avoid in the first place.

Fuji quickly surveyed their surroundings, looking for a possible escape path. The walls around them were made from solid concrete and it would be impossible to break through them without a wrecking ball. There were no windows within reach to break into either. Fuji noticed a door to his left and tried knocking on it but there was no answer. It was locked form the inside it was made from steel several inches thick. Fuji looked up and saw a rusting fire escape ladder not too far from his reach. If they could pull it down, they could easily reach one of high windows and enter the building.

"Taka-san!" Fuji called out. "Over here! Help me reach that-"

Fuji was interrupted by a loud howl accompanied by a strong gust of cold air coming from the other end of the alley. The light from the windows above them flickered, and the entire alley turned pitch black whenever the lights were out. During those fleeting moments of illumination, Fuji and Kawamura saw for the first time the image of their pursuer, standing on the open end of the alley about 20 meters away from them. The hollow that followed them was a hulking brute about five meters tall with a white mask that reminded Kawamura of dead fish. Fuji almost tripped on his own feet as he took a step back when he caught the hollow's glowing red eyes staring at him.

"This must be my lucky day." The hollow's voice sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a well. "I get to eat two delicious souls for the effort of chasing one. I'm going to savor this meal and eat them slowly." Dark grey mist rose from the ground as the monster slowly lumbered towards them.

"Fujiko-chan," Kawamura said in a low voice so that the hollow wouldn't hear him. Fuji looked at the other boy and noticed that he was holding a rusty steel bar, and had a stern look on his face. "I'll try to fight that thing off. While I'm doing that, you slip past it and escape."

"Taka-san…" Fuji knew Kawamura was the type of person who would say things like that, but he still couldn't help but be moved by his friend's words. Fuji stepped forward and picked up an empty wine bottle lying on ground. "Your plan sounds good, but you forgot one thing." Fuji suddenly smashed the bottom of the bottle against the wall to turn it into a makeshift weapon. He looked at Kawamura with a genuine smile on his face and said, "It's not that easy to abandon a nice guy like you."

* * *

"Oishi, why are you looking like that? Is there something wrong?" Kikumaru asked his doubles partner. A few minutes after they witnessed the Konsoh of the ghost in Kaidoh's room, Tezuka, Kikumaru, Inui, Echizen, and Momoshiro went back to the nurses' station and found Oishi and Kaidoh sitting on a nearby couch. 

"Ah, don't worry about it Eiji. I'm just having this really bad feeling," Oishi said. "But more importantly, what happened? Did you guys go to Kaidoh's room?"

"Yes we did," Tezuka answered. "We passed by Echizen and the others on the way there, and we all went to Kaidoh's room."

"Did you find anything?" Kaidoh asked. He secretly wished that they did find a ghost in his room, because it would be really embarrassing if there was nothing in there to be afraid of. They might think that Kaidoh's losing his mind, or worse, seeking attention.

"Yes, we found a lot of…. interesting things," Inui said. Kaidoh swallowed hard. If Inui found something embarrassing there, news would be sure to spread around the tennis club faster than wildfire. Inui noticed the second year's reaction and wondered what the younger boy was thinking. He saved the thoughts for later and continued. "But it would be better if we discuss them when everyone is here and preferably someplace where we could not be overheard."

"Where did Fuji-senpai and Taka-san go anyway?" Momoshiro asked.

"Fuji told me they were going to a nearby café," Tezuka said. "But he didn't tell me what time they will be back."

"I'm worried about them Tezuka," Oishi said. "I tried calling them, but Fuji's phone is turned off and Taka-san isn't answering his. I have a very bad feeling about this."

"Maybe they don't want to be disturbed?" Kikumaru said with a naughty look on his face.

"Eiji!" Oishi realized what Kikumaru meant and he felt himself blush a little. "I'm serious-"

"I know," Kikumaru interrupted. "I just said that because you looked too serious."

"Eiji…" Oishi didn't know what to say.

"Its different this time isn't it?" Kikumaru continued. "I know how you look like when you worry needlessly about others or when you worry about tennis, but I've never seen you look like this before."

"You're right," Oishi said. "It's like something inside me is telling me that Taka-san and Fuji are in danger."

"Very well," Tezuka said. "Inui, Oishi, Eiji, and I will go out and look for them. Echizen, Momoshiro, and Kaidoh, stay here in case they come back. You should also change out of those hospital clothes because we'll be leaving right after we find Fuji and Kawamura."

"Yes, buchou," Echizen, Momoshiro, and Kaidoh said at the same time. Tezuka nodded at them before heading towards the stairs, shortly followed by Inui.

"Let's keep in touch using our mobile phones," Oishi said to his kouhais.

"And don't let you guards down," Kikumaru added, in a voice that was a bad imitation of Tezuka's. Everyone laughed at the redhead's joke except for Kaidoh and Oishi who were trying their best not to. Oishi signaled Kikumaru that it was time to go, and then they followed Tezuka and Inui down the stairs.

* * *

"Fujiko-chan…" He wouldn't admit it to himself, but Kawamura was glad that Fuji chose to stay with him. Because even though his arms were already stiff from fear, having the prodigy by his side gave him courage to face the approaching monster. Kawamura was about to ask Fuji to move back a little when he heard someone speak behind them.

"That's a pretty troublesome thing you're up against." The male voice was also hushed. Whoever was behind them doesn't want to be heard by the hollow as well.

The two tennis players turned around and saw a man standing in front of the steel door Fuji inspected earlier. The dense fog obscured his facial features, but they could see he was wearing a fisherman's hat and was holding a cane on one hand. Fuji noticed that the steel door was still closed behind the strange man, and there was no evidence that the he came through it.

Now that he had their attention, the man continued. "I'm glad to see that you finally decided to stop running and fight that monster. However, I must warn you that you won't be able to do anything against a hollow with those crude weapons. If you come at it with only those, you will surely die."

"Who are you?" Fuji asked. "How long have you been watching us?"

"I'm nothing but a humble merchant," the man answered. "I've been following you since… Let's just say for quite some time already. But that's enough questions for now. What's really important is this thing I'm selling." He quickly approached the two boys and handed each of them something that looked like a candy dispenser.

"What's this?" Kawamura pressed the cute fish at the tip of the container and a small purple ball came out of its mouth. He turned the dispenser around and saw the words 'Soul Candy Lite' on its label.

"It's obvious isn't it?" The man said. "It's candy. This one lacks the flavor from the original though. Go ahead and try it."

Kawamura and Fuji hesitated. _Is this man crazy?_ Both of them thought.

"If you want to fight that monster and survive, hurry up and swallow that thing," the man sounded serious now.

_There isn't enough time to be picky, _Fuji thought. _Eating candy at a time like this makes no sense, but so many strange things have been happening today that it might be worth a try._

_If everything he said was true, _Kawamura thought. _Then this candy is our only ticket out of this mess. I want to protect Fujiko-chan…and I don't have any plans of dying before becoming the number one sushi chef in Japan._

The two Seigaku regulars looked at each other, and then swallowed the Soul Candy at the same time.

* * *

Notes: 'Soul Candy Lite' is something I made up that is similar to the Soul Candy (gikongan) in Bleach, except that after the soul is ejected from the body, it is not replaced by a temporary soul. Please review after reading, I would really appreciate it. 


	6. The First Battle

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 6: The First Battle 

"Oishi, what are we going to do now?" Kikumaru asked. A while ago, a man from the café pointed out the direction he saw Kawamura and Fuji running towards to. However, it led Kikumaru, Inui, Oishi, and Tezuka to an intersection without a clue on which direction to take.

"Since there are 4 possible routes, we could split up and cover all of them," Inui suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," Tezuka said. "What do you think Oishi?"

"I think they're this way," Oishi pointed to the right of the intersection. "I don't know why, but I have this feeling that Taka-san and Fuji are in that direction."

"Do you trust this feeling of yours?" Tezuka asked.

"Yes," Oishi answered without hesitation.

"Alright," Tezuka said. "We'll follow your directions until we find them."

* * *

Fuji couldn't breathe. The moment he swallowed the soul candy, his lungs started convulsing. After a few seconds, he regained his breath and immediately noticed that he felt lighter than usual. In fact, he felt so light that he thought could step on air if he ran fast enough. Fuji looked at his hands and realized that he was wearing different clothes than the ones he had on earlier. Instead of a light green shirt and jeans, he was now wearing a black robe tucked inside a matching black hakama. And instead of sneakers, he now had tabi socks and straw sandals on his feet. He moved a little and felt his left arm brush against something on his waist. There he found a sheathed katana with a purple hilt and a rectangle design etched parallel to a rectangular hand guard. He tilted his head to get a better look at the sword, but then, to his surprise, he saw himself lying on the ground right behind him. Fearing the worst, he looked over at the stranger who gave them the mysterious candy. 

"Don't worry about it. You can get back into your body later," the man said. "The only thing you need to worry about right now is that."

Fuji saw the man point a finger towards him. He turned around and saw the hollow's arm sweeping low, heading his direction. Fuji easily avoided the blow by jumping above the hollow's huge fist, but he still wasn't used to being a spirit and jumped too high. The hollow took advantage of Fuji not being able to balance himself in midair and sent a punch flying towards the prodigy's direction. Fuji covered his face with his forearms, hoping to block the hollow's fist that was headed his way. The punch never reached Fuji though, because Kawamura suddenly appeared in front of him and stopped the hollow's fist with the flat side of his sword. The taller boy was pushed back a little, but otherwise he completely stopped the hollow's attack. He was wearing the same kind of black outfit that Fuji had on. His sword was half a katana longer than Fuji's and Kawamura held onto it with both hands. It had a red hilt, and had a flame design engraved on its heart-shaped hand guard. Kawamura jumped back a little, but was still standing between Fuji and the hollow. He glanced at Fuji to make sure that the other boy was alright, and then pointed his sword at the monster that attacked his friend.

"How dare you attack Fujiko-chan? UNFORGIVABLE!" Kawamura was in burning mode again. _I feel like I'm ten times stronger and faster than usual, _the boy thought._ I'm not sure about what happened, but this feels awesome._

The hollow realized that it wasn't fighting normal humans anymore and howled in frustration. It desperately charged towards Kawamura and tried to grapple the boy, but the Seigaku regular evaded the monster's grasp by leaping towards the hollow itself.

"Take this! GREATO!" Kawamura slashed off the hollow's right arm as he passed, and then he landed skillfully behind the monster as it shrieked in pain.

"Your friend is really into it isn't he?" The merchant said to Fuji. The boy turned his head and saw the man standing right behind him. "That hollow will try to escape now that it's injured. You have to purify it before it does or else it will come back. The fastest and easiest way to purify it is to destroy its head from behind with a soul slayer."

"Soul slayer?" Fuji asked.

"That," the man pointed at the sword Fuji was carrying.

Fuji took the man's hint and drew out his katana. The prodigy swiftly ran up the wall towards the hollow. He landed on its arched back and then stabbed the back of its head with his soul slayer. The hollow cried out one last time as it disintegrated in glowing blue particles and sent to soul society. Fuji did a backflip as the hollow dissipated and landed gracefully beside his friend. He looked at his right hand holding the sword and wondered. _I haven't tried kendo or any similar sport, but ever since I held this weapon, I feel like I've been sword fighting all his life._

"Splendid job," the man said as he applauded. "To get back into your bodies, just hold them tight for a few seconds."

Fuji and Kawamura did what the man had just told them and found themselves feeling normal again. Whatever strength or agility they had when they were outside of their bodies was now gone.

"What was that thing?" Kawamura asked as he held out one hand to help Fuji stand up.

"That's called a hollow," the man answered. "If a dead person's spirit refuses to pass on, it will eventually turn into a hollow. You two can see spirits right?"

"I guess," Fuji said. "But I've never been able to see one until a few minutes ago, in the café."

"Me too," Kawamura added. "I saw one in the hospital earlier but I ignored it. I thought it was just my imagination."

The man nodded and continued. "A hollow is a creature of pure instinct, and it seeks only to feed on other spirits or people with high spirit power like you two. You see, only people with high enough spirit power can see and hear spirits. Also, since hollows are spirits, they cannot be harmed by normal weapons."

"That's why you gave us these," Fuji said as he held out his soul candy dispenser. It was similar to what Kawamura had, except that Fuji's had a cute bear head instead of a fish on it. "But you said earlier that you're a merchant. What do you want in exchange for these?"

"Data," the man answered, smiling.

"Data?" Kawamura asked.

"Yes," the man continued. "Data on something I have recently taken interest in."

"I don't think we have the data you're looking for," Fuji said.

"Ah, don't worry about that," the man said. "I've already collected the data that I wanted."

Images of Inui collecting personal data suddenly popped into Fuji and Kawamura's minds.

"That's good," Fuji said after he shook the thoughts of Inui out of his head. "So we get to keep these?"

"Yes, of course," the man said. "What kind of merchant takes back sold goods? Besides, you never know when you might be attacked again."

"What do you mean attacked again?" Kawamura asked. "Are there more of these things coming?"

"Like I said, hollows tend to attack people with high spiritual power," the man answered. "At this rate, not only the two of you, but your other friends might also be in danger. Speaking of whom, they're almost here and they seem to be looking for you."

"Fuji! Taka-san!" The two Seigaku regulars turned around and saw their teammates on the other side of the alley. Kikumaru saw the two and waved at them.

"I guess that's my sign to leave," the man said.

"Wait, what do you mean our friends might also being in danger?" Fuji asked.

"Don't worry," the man said. "I've got this feeling that we'll meet again soon. I promise to answer all your questions when that happens."

"Could you at least tell us your name?" Kawamura asked.

"Urahara Kisuke," the man answered. "Pleased to meet you. Oh, one last advice before I take my leave. When you find yourselves in a pinch, sharing some candy might not be a bad idea. Well, until we meet again, Kawamura Takashi-kun, Fuji Syuusuke-kun."

Fuji was about to say something, but the man suddenly disappeared, leaving only a faint breeze behind.

"How did he know our names?" Kawamura asked.

"I don't know either," Fuji said. "But that man, he's not just an ordinary merchant."

"I know," Kawamura said. "He could have easily defeated that hollow by himself."

* * *

The dense fog in the alley started to disperse as Kikumaru, Oishi, Tezuka, and Inui approached the other two seniors. Kikumaru could see the other side of the street clearly now, but the man Fuji and Kawamura were talking to was already gone. 

"Taka-san! Fuji!" Oishi said as he saw the two walking towards them. "What were you doing here? Did something happen? Are you alright?"

"We're alright," Fuji said. "Sorry to worry you."

"You were talking to a man wearing a hat a while ago. Who was he? Where did he go?" Kikumaru asked.

"It's hard to explain," Kawamura said.

"Does it have anything to do with ghosts, shinigami, hollows, or Konsoh?" Inui suddenly asked. Kawamura and Fuji looked at each other in surprise.

"I see," Tezuka said. "Tell us everything later. Let's return to the hospital first to check out and then we'll discuss things when we get to the hotel. We also have something to tell you."

* * *

Notes: Yes, they're shinigami. Well, sort of. Everything will be explained in later chapters so please be patient. Also, Kawamura's soul slayer is a nodachi, which is similar to a katana but is approximately 1.5 times longer and is carried across the back. Kawamura also carries his soul slayer in the same way, even though it wasn't mentioned. (like Hitsugaya Toushiro) I would really appreciate reviews, so please review after reading. 


	7. At the Hotel

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 7: At the Hotel

Echizen, Momoshiro, and Kaidoh were sitting near the hospital entrance when the other Seigaku regulars arrived. The three lower years had already changed out of their hospital clothes and were now wearing casual clothing. Beside them lay all of the team's bags, which were already packed and ready. As the three of them greeted their senpais, Kaidoh saw another spirit passing through a wall. It was already his third time seeing a spirit after the old man is his room. He still wasn't used to being able to see them - he still feels his spine tingling when he does - but at least he managed not to faint on the spot. The last thing he wanted to do was to embarrass himself even more in front of his rival and the freshman.

"Senpais!" Momoshiro said as he saw the rest of the Seigaku team coming through the hospital entrance.

"Yo! Momo, Ochibi, you could never guess where we found Taka-san and Fuji," Kikumaru said as he approached is two favorite kouhai and started a conversation with them.

"I'll go to the nurses' station to fix everything before we leave," Tezuka said to the others. "Oishi, inform everyone about Ruuzaki-sensei's instructions. Fuji, Kawamura, if you need any medical attention, you can go with me to the station."

"Ok," Oishi nodded.

"I think we're uninjured," Fuji said.

"Yeah, sorry again if we caused everyone to worry," Kawamura added.

"Alright, since it appears that out bags are already arranged, we'll leave the hospital immediately after I'm finished," Tezuka said before heading to the nurse's station.

* * *

After the chaotic events that happened at the park, Ichigo, Rukia, Karin, and Yuzu decided that it was best to spend the rest of the day at home, and passed by the video rental store on their way back. Ichigo picked up a martial arts movie, Karin got a copy of 'Charlie's Angels,' and Yuzu got a movie about a dog named Lucky. Rukia had no idea on what they were doing, and unwittingly picked up a DVD of 'The Bachelor.' Ichigo's father joined them at the living room as they watched the movies while eating their take-out dinner. They finished watching Ichigo's and Karin's choices, but after watching 'Lucky,' they couldn't help but be moved into tears. When everyone broke out crying, Karin said she needed to go to the bathroom, but her muffled sobs could be heard outside. After everyone had calmed down, they decided to call it a day and headed to their rooms. Rukia followed Ichigo to his room though, to return Kon, who watched the movies with them, and to hang out the orange-haired boy before going to sleep at the sisters' room. Ichigo was sitting on his bed as he tried to explain to a clueless Rukia the appeal of reality dating game shows – though he himself didn't like watching those – when her mobile phone rang.

"Who was it?" Ichigo asked after Rukia closed her phone.

"It was Urahara," Rukia answered, sounding a little distracted.

"What did he say? Has he found new information about Aizen?" Ichigo asked.

"No, not about Aizen," Rukia answered. She wasn't sure on how to bring up the topic without sounding like it was Ichigo's fault. After a few moments of silence, she continued. "Do you remember those guys you saved in the park earlier?"

"Yeah," Ichigo tried to recall what happened. "They were wearing the same kind of jersey so I guess they might be a sports team of some sort. What about them?"

"Some of them were attacked by a hollow a while ago," Rukia said. "Don't worry, they're safe for now. Urahara is watching them."

"I thought it might just be coincidence that the Menos Grande attacked them earlier, but now," Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed even deeper as he remembered the strange reiatsu he felt that morning. "Come to think of it, I think I sensed them when they came into town this morning, but their individual reiatsu wasn't high enough for hollows to take notice. I doubt they can even see spirits."

"Not anymore," Rukia said.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked.

"You can't feel it, but their spiritual force has almost tripled since the events in the park," Rukia said. "Do you remember when you asked me to check on them after the Menos escaped? I didn't feel any special reiatsu from them, but when you were about to leave, I realized that I couldn't feel any reiatsu at all. It was strange since there was bound to be a little leftover energy from you and the Menos, but something in the area was messing with my shinigami senses. So after you left, I phoned Urahara and asked him to look after them for a while."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Ichigo shouted. He wasn't angry at Rukia for not telling him, but to himself for not realizing it earlier. Even though Rukia didn't blame him directly, the orange-haired boy knew that he had something to do with what's happening.

"I wasn't sure if something was wrong them in the first place!" Rukia retorted. "There could have been another hollow or a shinigami in the area that was confusing my senses!"

Ichigo was speechless. For a few moments, he just stared at the black-haired girl that stood in front of him, and didn't say anything. _Rukia didn't mention the possibility of them being influenced by my reiatsu on purpose, so that must be what really happened,_ Ichigo thought. _She still thinks I won't be able to handle knowing things like that. It's so like Rukia to keep the problems to herself rather than telling me so I can help out._ Ichigo sighed in frustration.

"So what else did Urahara find out?" Ichigo asked after he calmed himself down.

"He didn't tell me," Rukia answered. "But he asked us to go to his place tomorrow morning. He also mentioned getting a lot of sleep tonight."

"I doubt he's going to tell us anything more even if we called him," Ichigo said. "But if he doesn't tell us everything he found out by tomorrow, I'm personally going to beat the information out of him."

* * *

The Seigaku regulars walked from the hospital to the hotel even though it was quite far, because some of them wanted to stop by the burger joint on their way. Even though they already ate at the hospital, the tennis players still felt hungry because of the sudden increase of their spiritual power. This became more evident as they walked the still busy streets, and saw a couple more spirits passing through oblivious pedestrians. If the images of the dead were a little hazy in the hospital, now they look as clear and opaque as their living counterparts. By the time the group arrived at the hotel, everyone had already accepted that what they were seeing was not a figment of their imagination. Even Oishi, who had only realized that he was seeing ghosts when Kikumaru told him, was already convinced that everything happening around him was for real.

"Whoa, Ruuzaki-sensei pulled it off this time," Momoshiro said as he saw the hotel across the street, and the other regulars agreed with him. Even though they were not staying in a five-star hotel, the place that the Seigaku coach got for them was ten times better than the shabby cottage she borrowed for their training camp.

The Seigaku regulars entered the 20-floor hotel – they found out later in the elevator – and then Tezuka approached the reception desk to inquire about their reservations. Their coach had gotten them three rooms with three beds each, so Tezuka and Oishi decided to split the team with Echizen, Momoshiro, and Kaidoh, in one room, Oishi, Kikumaru, and Fuji in another, and Tezuka, Kawamura, and Inui in the biggest room with the balcony. After everyone had placed their belongings in their respected rooms, Tezuka called for a meeting.

The group of tennis players sat in a circle on the floor of Tezuka, Kawamura, and Inui's spacious hotel room. Inui narrated in detail everything that happened in Kaidoh's hospital room, including the conversation between the two shinigami which Inui recorded word for word on his notebook. Afterwards, it was Fuji's turn to tell what happened to him and Kawamura after they heard the howling noise inside the café. Everyone couldn't believe what Fuji – and sometimes Kawamura - was telling them, until the two boys showed them the soul candy dispensers. Fuji then told them what he could remember from Urahara's parting words, including his warnings about being attacked by a hollow again. The group remained silent as each of them tried to make sense of these two stories.

"Any conclusions Inui?" Tezuka said, finally breaking the silence.

"Only one," Inui answered. He had been rapidly writing on his notebook as Fuji told their story and even afterwards, as if trying to derive an equation from it. "If everything the man said to Fuji and Kawamura was true, something happened earlier this day that caused our spiritual force to increase. Whatever it was, it must have happened before we fell unconscious or while we were out because we all began seeing spirits after we woke up. And because of this change in our spirit power, we are able to see and hear dead people and have become a possible target for these evil spirits called hollows."

Everyone nodded in agreement to Inui's conclusion.

"But how about Fuji and Taka-san being turned into shinigami?" Kikumaru asked. "Can't we conclude that they became shinigami like the ones we saw in Kaidoh's room? And does it mean that all of us can become shinigami too?"

"There is a high possibility that they have become shinigami when the swallowed the candy," Inui answered. "But since they haven't tried performing Konsoh on a good soul like those two shinigami did to the old man, we still can't be sure. And as for your other question, there is only one way to find out." Inui pointed at the soul candy dispensers on the floor in front of them.

Kikumaru shook his head in refusal. He would rather have it that someone else tries the candy before he did.

"How about those hollows?" Oishi asked Inui. "Do you honestly think that we will also be attacked? I'm a little worried. Well, not really. I'm very very very worried."

"I was wondering about that too," Kawamura added. "While we were on the way here, I kept looking around thinking that we might be attacked but I didn't find anything."

"There is a possibility, but I'm no position to give a sure answer," Inui said. "My data on hollows is insufficient to make any valid conclusions, but if we want to know more about these creatures, we have two options. First is to find more hollows and get primary data out of them or, as an alternative, we can get second-hand data from the only person we know that has sufficient knowledge on hollows. Taka-san, Fuji, do you know the name of the man you met in the alley? We could try to look him up on the telephone book."

"Taka-san asked him before he left," Fuji said. "He said his name was Urahara Kisuke."

"That sounds familiar," Tezuka said. He searched for something in his bag and pulled out the papers he got when they was released from the hospital and handed them to Inui. "It's the name of the person who paid for our hospital bill."

"He's also the one who called for our ambulances," Inui added. "It says so here. His phone number is also listed, b-but, this is illogical."

"What is it Inui-senpai?" Momoshiro asked.

"His phone number is not from Japan," Inui answered. "No, I doubt this phone number even exists. If you dial this on the phone you won't get anything."

"So that means we can't call him either," Echizen concluded.

"Wait, I suddenly remembered something," Oishi pulled out the piece of paper with the hotel's address that Tezuka gave him earlier. He turned it over and read the name Urahara Kisuke and address to his shop written on the other side.

"That address is in this town!" Kikumaru said. "Good job Oishi!"

"The chances of this happening out of coincidence are less than two percent," Inui said.

"But I wonder how he managed to place his address there," Momoshiro asked.

"I don't know," Tezuka said. "I asked the nurse for a piece of paper and she gave me that. I thought it was scratch paper and ignored what was written on the other side."

"So buchou, when are we going to visit this man?" Echizen asked, smiling.

"First thing tomorrow morning," Tezuka answered as he adjusted his glasses. Everyone seemed to be pleased with their captain's decision.

* * *

Notes: The movie 'Lucky' that Yuzu rented is the same one that Momoshiro watched in episode 116. To those who haven't seen that episode, Momoshiro said that he wouldn't cry from such a childish movie, but he was in tears after watching it. Ichigo and Rukia's conversation in this chapter is related to the scene I added in chapter 2 some time ago. (New readers have probably read it already.) And to those who wanted to see Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, Renji (the Abarai one), and Yoruichi in this fic, don't worry because they will make their appearances real soon. I really appreciate reviews, so please keep on reviewing. 


	8. Worries and Fears

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 8: Worries and Fears

Keeping in mind Urahara's warning, the Seigaku regulars decided that it was best for all of them to sleep in Tezuka, Inui, and Kawamura's hotel room with two people awake and watching out for hollows at any given time. They drew lots on which time interval they would be on guard duty, and then returned to their respective rooms to wash up and to get their bed mattresses and pillows. Momoshiro and Inui were on first watch, and sat on a bench at the balcony as the others tried to get some sleep on the mattresses they laid side by side on the floor. Echizen was the first to doze off, followed by Kikumaru, and then Kawamura who snored a little. The rest of the tennis players just lay on their mattresses, either thinking about everything that happened to them that day or simply trying to fall asleep

Oishi for one, found it hard to sleep that night. Despite the precautions they have already taken, he still felt a little worried. He pulled his blanket higher because he found the air conditioning too cold for his tastes and closed his eyes, but he couldn't stop thinking about their safety. He turned to his right and saw that Eiji already asleep. He heard the rustling of blankets to his left and turned in that direction. There he saw Fuji staring at the ceiling with a serious look on his face.

"Can't sleep?" Oishi asked in a soft voice to avoid disturbing the others.

"Yeah," Fuji answered. "I keep on remembering what happened to us earlier. How about you?"

"I'm a little worried," Oishi admitted.

"I should have guessed," Fuji said, smiling.

"Fuji," Oishi hesitated for a moment. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what did you feel when the hollow going was after you."

"Fear, panic, desperation, powerlessness, if that's what you mean," Fuji's facial expression didn't change as he said those words. "But aside from those, I also felt an intention to kill. I've never felt it before of course, but when I did, I couldn't mistake it for anything else. Every moment, it was almost like someone was breathing behind my ear and at the same time scratching the back of my neck with a knife"

"I'm sorry for prying," Oishi said as he looked away from the prodigy.

"It's okay, I think I needed to let it out anyway," Fuji said, this time smiling for real. "You worry too much about us Oishi. You can't take care of all of us at the same time. Learn to trust us more. I'm sure none of us has plans to get injured before the nationals."

"Fuji," Oishi was surprised to hear those words coming from his sadistic teammate.

"Besides," Fuji added. "I'm the one who should say sorry to you. Eiji told me that you were very worried about me and Taka-san."

"About that," Oishi said. "I'm not really sure on how I would explain this, but when the two of you left the hospital, I didn't worry about your safety at all. It's not that I didn't care about you or anything, but whenever I thought about the two of you I had this reassuring feeling telling me that you're safe and nearby. But shortly after Tezuka and Inui left to check Kaidoh's room, I suddenly felt worried and then when I remembered the two of you, I had this sad feeling like someone I know was moving away to another country. I tried to ignore it, but the feeling became worse and worse until it was like someone I knew had just died. Luckily, the others came back and agreed to search for the two of you."

"That's strange indeed," Fuji said.

"Isn't it," Oishi said. "And if that strange man didn't arrive to help you, then those feelings would have been correct."

"How about now," Fuji asked. "When you think about the team right now, what do you feel?"

"Hmm," Oishi waited for a while before answering. "It feels warm. It may sound cheesy, but I feel like I'm at home."

"So what are you worried about," Fuji said. "If you trusted that feeling of yours when you went looking for us, then why don't you trust it now and get some sleep?"

"Fuji…" Oishi had to admit that his teammate was right. "Thanks. I think I can sleep now."

"Goodnight then," Fuji said before Oishi turned around. A few minutes later, he noticed that Oishi was finally asleep. Fuji stared into the ceiling once again, and resumed his musing on the happenings earlier that day.

* * *

Kaidoh tossed and turned on the mattress. Since he was little, he was already afraid of ghosts and spirits though he has never seen any of them. But now, after mysteriously losing consciousness and waking up in the hospital, he was finally able to see the incorporeal beings that he dreaded and found them… not as frightening as he thought they were. Then he remembered what Fuji had told them about evil spirits called hollows, and realized that he wasn't afraid of them too, at least not in the way he was afraid of ghosts several hours ago. He never realized though, that it wasn't really ghosts that he was scared of, but the fact that there was something around him that he couldn't overcome no matter how hard he worked. But now that he's able to see them, Kaidoh felt like he could overcome any challenge the world of spirits would throw at him.

"Kaidoh, is something wrong," Tezuka asked. He was lying on the mattress to the right of the second year, and noticed his kouhai's uneasiness.

"Ah, i-i-its nothing buchou," Kaidoh was startled when the team captain suddenly spoke up. "Sorry if I disturbed you."

"It's alright, I wasn't sleeping," Tezuka replied. "You should get some sleep before you go on guard duty. I don't want you falling asleep while on watch."

"Y-yes buchou," Kaidoh immediately turned to the opposite side and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He thought about asking the reason why Tezuka wasn't sleeping, but the team captain probably won't give him a straight answer anyway.

After he saw his kouhai pretending to go to sleep, Tezuka closed his eyes and relaxed some more. A while ago, he couldn't sleep because he kept on thinking about how the things they have discovered that day would affect the team emotionally. At first he thought that this would bring the team closer to each other, but then it might become a distraction for them. He worried a little if they would be able to cope with the changes that were going to happen – he thought that being able to see ghosts was only the beginning – but after talking to Kaidoh, he remembered that the their team was strong, not only in tennis but also in their personalities. _It would be a big mistake to underestimate them,_ Tezuka reminded himself before drifting into dreamless sleep.

* * *

It was a few minutes past five in the morning when a hollow's howling noise rattled the Seigaku tennis players. Kikumaru and Echiezen who were on guard that time thought that the sound came from above them and went out to the balcony to check. There they saw a large centipede-like hollow twenty meters long flying towards their direction. Kikumaru and Echizen were about to run inside when a short, white-haired shinigami suddenly intercepted the approaching hollow.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!" The shinigami cried out as the sky above them suddenly darkened. Then to the two onlookers' surprise, a dragon made of what appeared to be water and ice came out of the shinigami's sword and froze the flying hollow before it dissipated into blue particles. The shinigami who apparently jumped from the ground to a height of eight stories landed on a balcony to the right of the one Kikumaru and Echizen were at. The sky was starting to clear up when a female shinigami appeared beside the one who fought the hollow. They didn't seem to notice the two tennis players watching them and spoke to each other normally.

"Whoa, you're not holding back today taichou," the well-endowed shinigami woman sounded like she was teasing her companion.

"Of course," the younger-looking shinigami replied. The serious tone of his voice contrasted the woman's easy-going attitude. "I want to finish purifying the hollows in this area before going to Urahara's."

Kikumaru and Echizen almost jumped up when the heard the name Urahara. The two of them had ducked low behind the balustrade to avoid being noticed as they eavesdropped on the conversation.

"But it's strange though," the female shinigami said, sounding a little more serious. "The two hollows we purified late last night were also headed towards this direction."

"I thought I sensed something a while ago, but it's gone now," the other shinigami replied.

Kikumaru and Echizen thought they heard the beeping of a mobile phone when Momoshiro stepped into the balcony. Kikumaru signaled the junior to duck, but when Echizen looked at where the two shinigami were standing, they were already gone.

"We thought we heard a hollow," Momoshiro said with a yawn in between. The other regulars were standing right behind him, also waiting for Echizen and Kikumaru's answer.

"There was a hollow," Kikumaru said. "But a shinigami appeared and purified it like it was nothing."

"What happened to the shinigami?" Momoshiro asked.

"He landed over there," Kikumaru pointed at the now empty balcony. "Another shinigami appeared beside him and they were talking to each other before you arrived."

"We heard them say something about this Urahara guy," Echizen added.

"You must tell us more," Inui said as he pulled out his notebook.

"At this rate, none of us could go back to sleep," Oishi interrupted. "I'll call the lobby and ask if we could have breakfast sent here. We can talk about what happened while eating."

* * *

After an interesting breakfast conversation, the Seigaku tennis players went out to look for the address Oishi found on the piece of paper. They asked several people for directions, but strangely, none of them knew of a store that existed on that street. But when they reached their destination, they found the shabby store right where it was supposed to be. Tezuka approached the two children sweeping in front of the store and asked if they were at the right place.

"Geez, the owner sure has a lot of visitors today," one of them, a red-haired boy said.

"Jinta-kun, I think they're the special guests the owner told us about," the other one, a timid-looking girl said.

"I know Ururu, I know," Jinta opened the door and signaled the Seigaku regulars to go in.

"Please come in, the owner has been expecting you," Ururu said.

* * *

Notes: Urahara's explanation of what's been happening will be on the next chapter. It was supposed to be on this one, but I thought it would be nice to describe some of the characters' reactions and feelings to what had happened to them that day. Please review after reading. 


	9. Urahara Answers

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 9: Urahara Answers 

Ururu escorted the nine boys into a spacious room near the back of the store, or what they thought was at the back of the store. They walked so far from the entrance that they should have been on the adjacent lot already. Urahara was waiting for them by the doorway, and asked his guests to sit around the table at the center of the room where Ichigo and Rukia were also seated. The regulars felt a little and sat quietly. Kaidoh positioned himself so that he was close to the black cat sitting at the corner of the room. A strange tall man came in immediately and served them tea.

"Nice to see you again, Fuji-kun, Kawamura-kun. And to everyone else, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Urahara Kisuke and I own this little store here. These are two of my colleagues, Kurosaki Ichigo-kun, and Kuchiki Rukia-san." Urahara said before he joined them on the table. He sipped some tea from his own cup and Rukia followed suit. Urahara noticed the tension of the nine students and smiled in amusement. "Please, make yourselves at home. It seems like we have a lot to discuss and it would be most unfortunate if you spent the entire time being uncomfortable like that." When his guests started to ease a little, Urahara continued. "I assume you're here to ask some questions."

Tezuka nodded towards Inui and the team's dataman opened his notebook. "Based on what Fuji and Kawamura told us, we think that you might have an idea on what's going on. I have already prepared some questions, I hope you don't mind if we to go through them one by one. Question one: These things that we've started seeing, what are they really?"

"I think Kuchiki-san over here could explain that better than I," Urahara said humbly.

Rukia nodded and took out her handy-dandy illustration pad. In her 'nice and friendly' tone, she explained to the Seigaku regulars the basics of afterlife and the role that shinigami play in it. Echizen was about to comment that her drawings didn't suit her explanation at all, but Ichigo already beat him to it.

"You know Rukia, you're confusing them even more with those drawings," the orange-haired boy said.

"Shut up Ichigo! You just don't know how to appreciate others' efforts," Rukia shouted as she threw her cup at the boy, leaving a large hump on his head where it hit. "My drawings are very helpful aren't they?" Her voice suddenly returned to being 'nice and friendly' when she asked the regulars, who nodded in fear rather than agreement.

* * *

"Thank you Kuchiki-san," Urahara said after the female shinigami finished her lecture. 

"Pluses, Hollows, Shinigamis. That's a lot to take in all at once," Momoshiro commented.

"But you see them, don't you? Unlike you guys, I grew up with the ability to see spirits. It took me some time to realize what they were, but I'm sure you'll get used to them eventually." Ichigo said. "But since it was Rukia who explained it, I don't blame you for your doubts. I think I even had nightmares when I first saw her drawings." Ichigo managed to dodge Rukia's handy-dandy illustration pad but not her punch that followed afterwards.

Urahara was glad that Ichigo's teasing of Rukia eased the boys a little, and thought that it would be a good time to continue their conversation. "Your next question please."

"Question two," Inui turned his notebook a few pages back. He had already taken ten pages of notes just from Rukia's explanation. "We were only able to see spirits since last night. Do you know what happened to us yesterday that made us suddenly see them?"

"Do you remember what happened yesterday at the park?" Urahara asked back.

"Yes," Inui answered for their team. "We were warming up for our exhibition matches at the afternoon when we heard explosions. We tried to avoid the commotion by going to an open area, but one explosion occurred directly above us. We lost consciousness afterwards and woke up in the hospital."

"And what do you think is the cause of those explosions?" Urahara asked.

"We suspect them to be the work of terrorists," Inui answered.

"That's what people who can't see spirits think," Urahara shrugged. "But they never find any evidence of an explosive device on the scene of the explosions, don't they?"

"So you're saying that those explosions at the park were caused by a spiritual entity?" Inui thought that it was the only possible conclusion.

"Correct," Urahara was pleased with Inui's quick thinking, "a very powerful hollow to be more precise. It was about to kill, or should I say disintegrate you guys, but Kurosaki-kun here managed to save you. He might not look like it but he's a powerful shinigami."

Ichigo glared at Urahara before he looked away from the table, expecting words like 'thank you' or 'I owe you my life,' from the Seigaku players. The boys completely ignored him though, because they were still busy processing everything that Rukia and Urahara had just told them.

"And then you found us and called the hospital?" Inui asked Urahara.

"Not immediately after," Urahara answered. "Kuchiki-san was also there when it happened, and was worried so she called me to watch over you."

"But what does that have to do with being able to see spirits?" Inui asked.

"A lot actually," Urahara looked at Kawamura and Fuji before he continued. "You see, there are several ways for a normal human to become a shinigami." Urahara glanced at Rukia and continued, "The most common method is to receive shinigami powers directly from another shinigami." Urahara looked over at Ichigo. "Some however, gain shinigami powers by overcoming their transformation into a hollow." He looked back at the regulars again. "Now, there are rare cases when a human bypasses hollow transformation and gains shinigami powers by being exposed to a large amount of hollow and shinigami reiatsu at the same exact moment. The concept behind it is hard to explain, but it is like a combination of the first two methods I mentioned."

"And we became shinigami because of that," Inui put together everything Urahara told them so far.

"Yes," Urahara continued. "In order to stop the devastating attack of the hollow, Kurosaki-kun had to exert the same amount reiatsu counter it. Your group was standing right in the middle of their swirling energies and got affected by them."

"Now I remember," Echizen suddenly said. "I think I saw an orange-haired shinigami like him before I passed out."

"Me too," Kaidoh added.

"Being able to see a shinigami means that you have strong spiritual power or you're already a spirit." Rukia explained.

"That leads us to Question three," Inui said afterwards. "You said that we're being targeted by hollows because of our spiritual power. What can we do to avoid being attacked by hollows? Can we reverse the process and become normal humans again?"

"There are very few documents in the archives of Soul Society that discuss the process that gave you shinigami powers, and none of them mentioned anything about reversing its effects. I'm not even sure if it's permanent," Urahara said. "But if avoiding hollows is your only concern, with some practice you can mask your spiritual force to avoid being detected by spiritual entities." Urahara suddenly looked serious. "However, some hollows cannot be fooled that easily. These high-level hollows are very dangerous not because of their strength, but because of their intelligence and cunning. If one of them ever catches your scent, running away or hiding would not be of any use."

"Then what do you suggest that we do?" Oishi blurted out. He couldn't keep quiet anymore now that they're discussing the team's safety.

"You're going to stay at our town for two more days am I correct?" Urahara said.

"How did you know?" Oishi was surprised that a stranger knew so much about them.

"Kuchiki-san did ask for my services," Urahara said calmly. "And when she told me to watch over you, I assumed she meant complete surveillance, so I had your phone calls tapped and your backgrounds checked. It's not my habit to disappoint customers, you know." Oishi was about to say something about privacy but Urahara ignored him and continued. "But that's not the point. What I was about to suggest was that you undergo a little training here to learn the ways of a shinigami and to learn how to use your special powers."

"Special powers?" Inui asked.

"Oh, I must have forgotten to tell you," Urahara covered his mouth with a fan and pretended to be embarrassed. "As I said a while ago, it is rare to find documents about the process that gave you shinigami powers. But rarer still, are accounts of people who have gained shinigami powers in the same way as you did. It's not that Soul Society didn't know of their existence, mind you. It was because none of them were actually worth writing about in the first place. The strongest one didn't even match up to a lieutenant rank shinigami." Urahara took a deep breath before he continued. "However, the ones whom I found records of were of special interest to Soul Society because they developed powers that normal shinigami didn't have. Powers that resembled hollow abilities more than anything else."

"What kind of special powers?" Oishi asked.

"Like the one you have Oishi-kun," Urahara said as he looked towards the vice-captain. "Do you remember yesterday when you sensed that Kawamura-kun and Fuji-kun were in danger and pinpointed their exact location?"

"Yeah, but it's not like I willed to know where they were," Oishi said. "I just followed this feeling I had."

"Exactly," Urahara snapped his fan. "The hollow reiatsu that you absorbed familiarized your spiritual senses with hollow energy patterns, allowing you to detect their presence to the centimeter at a range of ten kilometers. It's comparatively, a well-documented ability of shinigami like you. With some training, you can learn to activate and deactivate it at will and use it to detect other spiritual entities as well."

"That's so cool, Oishi!" Kikumaru said excitedly as he slung an arm around his doubles partner.

"Momoshiro-kun has showed signs of his hollow-granted ability too," Urahara said as he looked at the confused second year. Momoshiro had no idea what the merchant was talking about because he didn't feel anything different in him, aside from being able to see spirit of course.

"You mean his monstrous appetite? I'm afraid he's always been like that," Kikumaru said followed by snickers from himself and Echizen.

"Or maybe you mean his extraordinary ability to irritate people," Kaidoh said sarcastically, ignoring Momoshiro's death glare.

"Something similar to that, Kaidoh-kun," Urahara said. Kaidoh and Momoshiro stared at Urahara quizzically, waiting for him to continue. "One of the problems I had while observing you was that someone in your group was subconsciously confusing my spiritual senses. At first I had no idea who it was, but when your group got separated at the hospital, only Momoshiro-kun's, Kaidoh-kun's, and Echizen-kun's reiatsu were being jammed. I confirmed who it was last night when the spirit sensors I placed in your hotel rooms started working when Momoshiro-kun fell asleep."

"But how did you know I fell asleep at that time?" Momoshiro asked.

"Of course I placed hidden cameras in your rooms as well," Urahara laughed sadistically behind his fan when he saw the regulars shift uncomfortably.

"But how about the others? Do you know what special powers they have?" Oishi asked.

"Based on what I have read, some of the hollow-like powers could only be used when the person is in spiritual form. It also appears that some only learned how to use their special powers after receiving certain stimuli, like seeing a hollow use a similar ability first," Urahara answered. "I'm pretty sure that most of you will learn to use your special powers if you train here. So, what do you say?"

Tezuka knew what his answer was, but he wanted to make sure if everyone had the same opinion. He looked at each his teammates: Kaidoh made an acknowledging hiss; Inui adjusted his glasses, a sign that finds the prospect interesting; and the others nodded in agreement.

"Before I agree with your proposition, I would like to ask one thing," Tezuka finally spoke up. "Why are you so willing to help us? Do you want something from us?"

"Well, aside from all the exclusive data I could get from your training, it was actually a direct request from Kurosaki-kun and Kuchiki-san. I still owe them much from the trouble I caused some time back so I couldn't refuse." Urahara answered truthfully. "They didn't want me to tell you this, but they feel responsible for involving you in our spiritual business." But before Urahara could continue, Ichigo and Rukia managed to jump him and cover his mouth.

"But if you didn't protect us with your reiatsu, we would have been killed by the hollow," Oishi said. "Kurosaki-kun, Kuchiki-san, even though we're complete strangers, you have done so much for us. Thank you." Oishi bowed low and the other regulars imitated him.

"Ah, it was nothing, really. If you ended up getting killed by a hollow afterwards, then saving you that time would have been useless," Ichigo looked away and rubbed the back of his head. "Besides, someone did the same thing to me before. That person broke the rules of Soul Society and became a fugitive just to save me and my family, who were also strangers to her. I'm just trying to do the same thing."

"Ichigo…" Rukia realized that she was blushing, and immediately let go of Urahara to hide her pink face from the orange-haired boy.

"Now that you know our reasons, what is your team's decision, Tezuka-kun?" Urahara asked.

"We would happy to accept your offer," Tezuka answered.

"Excellent," Urahara stood up and slid open the door behind him. Behind the paper door stood Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, Yumichika, Ikkaku, and Renji, already in shinigami form. The five of them had been inside that room the entire time listening to Urahara and the regulars' conversation. "Now I'd like to introduce you to the people who are going to help me in your training."

* * *

Notes: I split this chapter into two because the original was very long, and I wanted a little consistency in terms of chapter length. If there are any plot holes in this chapter, the next one will probably cover them. Please review after reading. I really appreciate reviews, no matter how short or long they are. 


	10. First Impressions

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 10: First Impressions

The Seigaku regulars silently exchanged looks as they recognized some of the shinigami who had just entered the room. Urahara asked the division members to take a seat around the table and closed the door behind them.

"Why did we agree to do this again, Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya muttered to his lieutenant as they joined the others at the table.

"Urahara offered us free food?" Matsumoto joked.

"No, that's the probably reason why Abarai and Maradame are here," the white-haired boy said bluntly.

"Because Urahara is evil and has a monopoly of spiritual merchandise in this area," Matsumoto wondered when her captain would ever get a joke.

"Ah, yes. Thank you for reminding me," Hitsugaya said before sipping tea from a cup Tessai had just served them.

"Alright, listen up everyone, here's the plan," Urahara said after everyone had settled down. "I'm going to assign one novice shinigami to each senior shinigami in this room. It is the senior shinigami's task to teach as much as they can to the new shinigami for the next 48 hours. Break time is entirely up to each pair, but I'll make sure that food is served whenever someone wants to eat. After the two-day training period, we're going to do a field test to find out what the new shinigami have learned. I expect us finish just before their bus to Tokyo City arrives on Tuesday evening. Any questions so far?" Inui raised his hand. "Yes Inui-kun?"

"You still haven't finished answering all my questions," Inui glanced at his notebook before continuing. "We stopped at question three. Subtracting the questions that were already answered as our discussion progressed, there are still 71 left."

"Don't worry about it Inui-kun. You can ask me all the questions you want later. After all, I'm the one who's going to train you," Urahara said to Seigaku's data keeper, who was pleased with the arrangement. "Now, if there are no more questions, I'm going to announce the other pairs. First off is Kawamura-kun, who will be trained by Maradame-kun, and Oishi-kun will be instructed by Ayasegawa-kun."

"Nice to meet you," Kawamura bowed shyly at a disappointed Ikakku.

"I told you I wanted to train someone who likes to fight!" Ikakku complained at Urahara. "This guy looks like he'll befriend a hollow if given a chance!"

"Don't worry Maradame-kun," Urahara said reassuringly. "Once he gets hold of his Soul Slayer, I'm sure he won't disappoint you."

"I only hope so," Ikakku suspiciously eyed the friendly tennis player.

"I look forward to our training," Oishi said as he offered his hand to Yumichika.

_Hmm, not bad, not bad, but his hair might need some restyling,_ Yumichika thought as shook hands with the Seigaku vice-captain.

"Next is Momoshiro-kun who will be tutored by Matsumoto-san, and Tezuka-kun who will be taught by Hitsugaya-kun." Urahara said.

"Wow! They're so big," Momoshiro's gaze lingered at the female shinigami's chest until Echizen sharply elbowed the second year's waist. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you, Matsumoto-san. I was just-"

"Aren't they?" Matsumoto said proudly as she adjusted herself to give the second year a better view. Momoshiro was surprised that she didn't slap him right there and then.

"Matsumoto! He's just a kid," Hitsugaya reminded his subordinate.

"Whoa, they have their own ochibi too. I didn't realize how short he was when we saw him this morning," Kikumaru said to Echizen. "I wonder which of you two is taller."

"Of course I am, Kikumaru-senpai," Echizen said. "It's only his hair that makes him appear to be taller.

Hitsugaya felt a vein pop on his forehead. He was about to comment that spirits take more time to grow compared to humans, and that he was still at the beginning of his growth spurt, but Tezuka suddenly spoke to him.

"Let's do our best from here onwards," the charismatic team captain nodded towards the shinigami prodigy, who found himself unconsciously returning the gesture.

"Next will be Fuji-kun who will be taught by Kuchiki-san, Abarai-kun will be paired up with Kaidoh-kun, and Echizen-kun will be coached by Kurosaki-kun."

Fuji and Rukia politely exchanged bows and formalities while Renji and Ichigo moved to sit beside Kaidoh and Echizen.

"All right, Kaidoh! I'm going to make you the strongest guy in your team!" Renji said enthusiastically while glaring at Ichigo, but Kaidoh returned the red-haired shinigami's excitement with a cold hiss. "What the hell was that?" Renji complained. "We can't beat Ichigo's team if you don't feel passionate about training."

"Hehehe, look at them, arguing already," Ichigo said as he slung an arm around an uneasy Echizen. "At this rate, we're sure to beat their team. Right, Ryoma?"

"Yeah, sure," Echizen answered dispassionately. _Wait a minute; did he just call me by my first name without my title?_

"Um, how about me?" Kikumaru noticed that aside from his teammates, there are only eight other people in the room.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget about you Kikumaru-kun," Urahara said. "You'll have the honor of being trained by none other that Yoruichi-san."

"Yoruichi-san?" Kikumaru wondered. "But, there's no one else in here."

"No, I'm right here." The regulars looked around for the source of the voice but couldn't find it. Eventually, Yoruichi, still in cat form, jumped to the center of the table and spoke again. "I'm Yoruichi."

Tezuka's eyeglasses slipped a little to the right, Inui dropped his notebook, and Fuji's eyes opened when the black feline sitting in front of them spoke. The other regulars moved back in surprise, and Kaidoh felt like he was going to have a heart attack.

"That's why I didn't talk earlier," Yoruichi said. "Men. They can easily accept the fact that they see spirits, but can't take on the idea of talking cats."

"See, I told you it was scary," Ichigo and Renji said at the same time.

"But you love surprising people like that, don't you, Yoruichi san," Urahara said behind his fan. "Don't worry Kikumaru-kun, Yoruichi-san just likes to stay in cat form, but she's really a very capable shinigami. I'm sure you will learn a lot from her."

Kaidoh's face grew red when he heard that the black cat he was trying to play with the entire time was actually a shinigami. _No wonder it was able to resist my wriggly-jiggly finger. _Kaidoh thought.

"Can you teach me how to turn into a cat too?" Kikumaru's initial surprise was now overcome by excitement.

"If you do well enough, maybe," Yoruichi answered.

"Alright! I'm going to do my best to surpass your expectations!" Kikumaru said enthusiastically.

"Well, now that everyone's been introduced, we could finally start the training sessions," Urahara pulled out a box that contained an assortment of soul candy dispensers from under the table. He asked each of the regulars except Kawamura and Fuji to take one. Kikumaru was the first to choose and picked a dispenser with a cat design. Kaidoh was next and got one with his favorite snake design. Momoshiro, Inui, and Oishi got a gorilla, owl, and cow design respectively. When it was Echizen's turn to get one, there were only two dispensers remaining inside the box. The freshman chose the dispenser with a duck design, because he thought the other one was too cute for his tastes. Tezuka stared at the almost empty box before he reluctantly accepted the last dispenser with a Chappy the bunny design on it.

"As some of you might already know, these dispensers contain soul candy," the shop owner explained. "When swallowed, it forcibly ejects the person's soul from the body. It's a perfectly safe product so you don't have to worry about permanent spiritual or corporal damage."

The Seigaku regulars thought that Urahara's choice of words were not reassuring at all.

"After everyone's done preparing, Tessai-san will lead you to the underground training chamber," Urahara said. "Inui-kun and I will go to my library first, and we will be joining you downstairs later."

* * *

"Go on, it's perfectly safe," Ichigo said when he noticed a nervous Echizen staring at the piece of soul candy on his palm. "Alright, give me one, I'll show you that there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Who said I was afraid?" Echizen said defensively.

"I only said there's nothing to be afraid of," Ichigo said, grinning. He took advantage of Echizen's distraction and snatched the soul candy from the younger boy's palm then immediately swallowed it. The orange-haired shinigami emerged from his body in a quick jolt. Ichigo patted the back of his slumping body and then looked back at freshman. "Told yah."

After seeing his trainer and his other teammates transform into shinigami, Echizen eventually gathered enough courage and swallowed the mysterious green sphere.

* * *

Notes: In case anyone missed it from the earlier chapters, the design of Kawamura's soul candy dispenser is a fish, and the design on Fuji's is a bear. Some parts of the dialogue may sound weird because I tend to imagine how they would say those things in Japanese, and some expressions in Japanese just don't translate well into English. Please review after reading. 


	11. Know the Name

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 11: Know the Name 

"So Ryoma, shall we begin?" Ichigo asked. After Echizen successfully transformed into a shinigami, the two of them followed the others into Urahara's underground training chamber. It took the two of them a while, but they finally found a spot far away from the other training pairs.

"Yes, Kurosaki-senpai," the freshman answered.

"Kurosaki-senpai?" The orange-haired boy wasn't used to being called senpai, and was about ask the freshman to just call him Ichigo, but Echizen misinterpreted him and spoke up first.

"Well, compared to Urahara-san and the others, you don't seem to have as much experience to be called Kurosaki-sensei," Echizen said bluntly. "Are you sure you can teach me how to fight?"

_How uncute._ Ichigo thought as he gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to grind his knuckles on the younger boy's skull. _But he does have a point._ _What am I supposed to teach him? _Ichigo asked himself. It was his first time teaching someone how to fight, and he wasn't sure where to begin. Suddenly, the substitute shinigami remembered his first time training with Urahara. _That's it. _ "Ryoma, you want to learn how to fight hollows right?"

"Isn't that the reason why we're here?" The freshman answered sarcastically.

"Do you want to learn how to easily defeat any hollow you encounter?" Ichigo's asked.

"Yes," Echizen gulped when he saw his teacher's expression suddenly change. Ichigo looked much more serious now.

"Well then, I guess there's no other choice. You'll have to learn the name of your soul slayer," Ichigo said.

"Name?" Echizen wondered. "Our swords have a name? What does knowing the name of our soul slayer have to do with fighting hollows?"

"Calling out a soul slayer's name will release it into its true form. And once a soul slayer is released, its wielder's combat ability increases greatly," Ichigo answered. Echizen immediately remembered what Hitsugaya did to the hollow outside the hotel. "Now, draw your soul slayer," Ichigo continued. "I'm going to attack you, so you better be ready. I don't want to accidentally kill a kid like you."

"W-wait a minute, Kurosaki-senpai! How will I know-" Echizen was interrupted when Ichigo suddenly raised his huge soul slayer and swung it towards him, intentionally missing him and hitting the ground to his right instead.

"That's enough questions for now. It took me almost a day to find out the name of my soul slayer, but in your case it might take longer so we shouldn't waste any time," Ichigo said without even looking at Echizen. "Be careful, my next attack won't miss."

_Is this guy serious?_ Echizen thought. Then without warning, Ichigo suddenly lifted his soul slayer and swung it horizontally towards the freshman. Echizen realized that it was too late to dodge, and instinctively drew out his own soul slayer to parry his mentor's attack Compared to Ichigo's Zangetsu, Echizen's soul slayer looked normal, with a blue hilt and a circular hand guard etched with curved lines from the center to the edge.

_Fuji-senpai wasn't kidding when he said he felt so much stronger and faster as a shinigami. _The freshman thought. _If I had this much strength and speed while playing tennis, I could probably take the grand slam without breaking a sweat. _Echizen jumped back to buy himself a little more time to organize his thoughts, but Ichigo was already upon him.

"Good. You consecutively blocked my attacks," Ichigo said as he and Echizen locked swords. "That means you've already adjusted to being in spiritual form. Now there's only one thing left for you to do." Echizen jumped back again, this time to avoid being crushed by Ichigo's brutish strength. "Attack me with everything you got," Ichigo said. "If you manage to put a single scratch on me, then our training is already finished."

* * *

"Wow, I never expected you to be a woman, Yoruichi-sensei," Kikumaru said. Back inside the store while he was transforming into a shinigami, Yoruichi managed to slip away to get some clothes and change back into human form. 

"It's probably because of the way I talk," the Goddess of Flash answered as they reached one of the edges of the underground training chamber. "We're here."

"I'm all set to begin," Kikumaru said enthusiastically.

"You're really into this aren't you?" Yoruichi asked the excited senior. "Are you really that eager to learn how to fight hollows?"

"No, I just want to do really well in our training so you can teach me how to turn into a cat," Kikumaru answered truthfully.

"Well, I can't see anything wrong with that," Yoruichi sweatdropped. "But before we begin, I must tell you that my training method is very different from the others. Most of them will probably teach your teammates how to release their soul slayers, but I will teach you fighting methods that will allow you to defend yourself without needing to use a soul slayer."

"Without needing to use my soul slayer?" Kikumaru drew his blade that was sheathed horizontally on his lower back and stared at it for a few seconds. It was short like a kodachi and had an orange hilt and a rectangular handguard with two 'I' characters etched on it. "How am I going to fight without a weapon? Will you teach me how to use the kido-thing Kuchiki-san told us about?"

"Not just kido, but more importantly, I'll teach you how to fight using hakuda and hoho," Yoruichi said. "Now, for the first part of our training, we'll be running around the perimeter of this training area."

"Running?" The last thing Kikumaru expected from Yoruichi's special training would be running. Besides, ever since Tezuka returned to the tennis club after recovering from his injury, they had already ran enough laps to last them until college.

"Yes, you heard me right," Yoruichi replied. "But it's not the kind of running exercise you're expecting. I'm going to teach you the basics of shunpo."

"Shunpo," Kikumaru wondered.

"Let me put it this way, I could easily cover the entire perimeter of this training area in a single flash step. But for a beginner like you, you could probably do it in seven to ten flash steps," Yoruichi explained.

"That's so cool!" Kikumaru said excitedly. "Let's start the training already!"

_He's got the right attitude, that's for sure. _Yoruichi thought.

* * *

"Damn," Echizen cursed under his breath. He couldn't tell the time accurately inside the training chamber, but he has been trying to hit Ichigo for half a day already. But no matter how hard he tried or how often he changed his attack patterns, the orange-haired shinigami always managed to dodge or parry his blows. 

_His movement speed and reaction time are improving, and his attacks are starting to get stronger. _Ichigo thought. _But his spiritual force isn't increasing at all. Sure he's got resolve, but maybe it's not enough. That's probably why Urahara…_

_Maybe I should try a feint to his left, _Echizen thought as he thrust his sword towards Ichigo's chest, expecting his trainer to block it easily. But to his surprise, the orange-haired shinigami didn't move at all. Echizen felt the tip of his sword touch Ichigo's skin, but instead of cutting it, his soul slayer just slipped towards Ichigo's right shoulder. _I didn't even scratch him. _Echizen was so surprised that he lost his balance and fell face first on the floor.

"So is this all you've got?" Ichigo taunted the fallen shinigami. "Geez, and I thought you guys would be strong because you got shinigami powers from my reiatsu. Or maybe I'm just unlucky and got the weakest one."

"I'm not done yet," Echizen said as he struggled to get up.

"That's good to hear," Ichigo said, though he didn't sound the slightest bit relieved. "But now you know that I can't be cut easily, so I'll have to make things a little more difficult." Ichigo raised his soul slayer and pointed it at the freshman. "Once I stop talking, I'm going to start attacking you, so you better get ready." Then after a short pause, Ichigo suddenly dashed towards Echizen who barely managed to block his teacher's sword. Ichigo twisted his soul slayer a little, and scratched Echizen's right shoulder as he drew his sword back.

_This guy, he was holding back the entire time, _Echizen thought. His right shoulder twitched a little, but the pain on it was minimal._ He's much faster and stronger than when I was attacking him. If this keeps up, I could get seriously injured._

_I thought that I would be a kinder teacher than Urahara,_ Ichigo thought as he prepared for another attack. _But it seems like pushing him to his limits is the only way for him to learn his soul slayer's name. I can avoid accidentally killing him, but I can't do anything about the pain his wounds are going to cause him._

* * *

"Are you even trying?" Renji asked Kaidoh who was struggling to stand up after being knocked down during their sparring. The second year's robes were cut up in different places, and some holes revealed shallow wounds on his body. The black bandana on his head was a little loose and he adjusted it as Renji continued to lecture him. "You won't stand a chance against higher level hollows if you can't even land a single hit on me." 

Kaidoh replied with an angry hiss. _I've already tried everything dammit! This guy just doesn't leave an opening. Besides, what kind of instructor injures his students during training? _The second year thought. His soul slayer was similar to the one Renji had, except for the green hilt and the chain design on the diamond-shaped hand guard, so the only reason he could think of why he couldn't hit Renji was the difference in their combat experience. Kaidoh readied himself and was about to try a different attack pattern when he saw Momoshiro and Matsumoto walking at a distance.

"Oi, mamushi!" Momoshiro yelled when he spotted Kaidoh looking at their direction. "Rangiku-san and I are going to take a break! She said that at the rate I'm improving, I'm going to be stronger than her in no time! I'm-" But before Momoshiro could say more, Matsumoto managed to jam her knuckle into the loud boy's mouth.

"Where the hell are you looking?" Renji moved in for a surprise attack, but ended up being the one surprised when Kaidoh parried his sword effortlessly. The shinigami lieutenant moved back a little from the initial surprise and during that small amount of time, Kaidoh managed to switch to the offensive and Renji found himself being pushed back. _What's with this guy? _The red-haired shinigami thought as he blocked the second year's continuous attacks. _His movements are completely different from before. Even though my reiatsu is limited in the real world, for an inexperienced shinigami like him to put me on the defensive is quite an achievement. And what's this strange aura I'm feeling?_ By the time Renij realized it, a rip in the human world appeared behind Kaidoh and second year suddenly disappeared.

"Don't underestimate Kaidoh Kaoru!" Kaidoh shouted as he reappeared behind his trainer, and delivered a small cut on Renji's lower back.

"I was starting to wonder when you'd get motivated," Renji said as he turned around, smiling even though he was just wounded. "I was a little surprised by your strange power, but it won't work on me again. Come and attack me like you did a while ago. It's time for me to get serious too."

* * *

All the curses Echizen knew failed to describe how he felt several hours after Ichigo started to hit him back. Being unable to cut his target and unable to avoid being cut, pretty much summed up the freshman's frustration during the second half of their training. He couldn't even stand up straight from all the wounds he received from his supposed trainer. 

"You can't go on fighting like that," Ichigo said to the struggling freshman. "If you want, we could take a break and I can call Inoue to heal you while we're eating. We can still have about a day to train afterwards."

_It's just like when dad played against me seriously for the first time, _Echizen thought bitterly. _I can't let it end like this. I just can't._

"Kurosaki-senpai, I want to continue," Echizen said after a few moments of silence.

"But at this rate, you'll pass out and we'll lose even more time," Ichigo argued.

"Don't worry Kurosaki-senpai, that won't happen," Echizen grasped his soul slayer with both hands and raised its blade to his eye level. A bright blue aura surrounded the freshman as he slowly regained the strength to stand straight. "Embrace your enemies, Fubukihime!"

* * *

Notes: First of all, Kaidoh's ability allows him to 'teleport' by passing through hueco mundo as a kind of shortcut. (And no, I didn't copy it from Nova in the Bleach anime. Heck, I don't even understand how his power works.) Second, Fubukihime translates to "Snow Storm Princess." Third, the training scenes that were not included in this chapter will be shown as flashbacks during battles in later chapters, so please be patient. Last but not the least, please review after reading. And if you know anyone who loves Bleach and Prince of Tennis, please tell them about my story. 


	12. Inui's Plea

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 12: Inui's Plea 

"Ryoma-kun," Echizen heard a distinctly feminine voice calling him inside his head.

"You," Echizen immediately recognized the mysterious voice as the one he had heard just a few moments ago. "You're Fubukihime?" The freshman stared at his released soul slayer. It was slightly different from the usual katana, with a straight blade instead of a curved one. The hilt had also straightened out, though it was still colored blue. And right above the plain, circular hand guard, Echizen noticed something that resembled small propeller blades.

"It seems that you've finally heard me," the voice said coldly. "I've been calling out to you for a while now."

"So it was you who was causing those strange noises," Echizen remembered asking Ichigo about it, but the orange-haired shinigami said that he didn't hear anything. "But if you were calling out to me, how come I didn't understand what you were saying?"

"That's because your desires were different from mine," the soul slayer replied.

"What do you mean?" The freshman wondered how a sword can even have desires.

"You see, as a weapon, my natural desire is to fight, or to be used in fighting," Fubukihime explained. "But while that orange-haired brat was attacking you, the only thing in your mind was to avoid being cut and to end the training as soon as possible. You had no will to fight at all." Echizen hadn't realized it earlier, but what his soul slayer said was true. "But now I see that you wish to prove yourself through combat," The voice in his head continued, "Your feelings and mine have finally reached each other, so you can now understand what I'm saying."

"So are you going help me in fighting Kurosaki-senpai?" Echizen asked after understanding what Fubukihime had just told him.

"Of course," the soul slayer answered with a sadistic tone. "Let me at that Zangetsu, I've been itching to show him my true power."

* * *

"What was that?" Inui asked Urahara. The Seigaku senior was intently reading a book in Urahara's library when he suddenly felt a surge of reiatsu coming from the training chamber below him. 

"That Inui-kun, is the spiritual force of a shikai," Urahara said while he continued tinkering on a strange device that looked like large earphones. "Impressive isn't it? When a shinigami achieves shikai, defeating normal hollows would be as easy as cutting paper, regardless of the kind of training he or she received. You must have a very talented individual in your group."

"It's probably Tezuka or Echizen," Inui said as he closed his notebook and the book he was reading.

"What's the matter Inui-kun?" Urahara asked as he reached for a screwdriver and continued working on the strange gadget. Without even looking at the boy, he could tell that something was troubling the regular.

"Um, Urahara-san," Inui didn't know how to proceed with the conversation, so he just let out what was currently on his mind like he usually did. "You must be thinking that all these information you are giving me would be a huge contribution to our group, and I agree with you. But just having data isn't enough. If I'm not able to act accordingly, then using data against hollows would be useless. You may argue that I let my teammates do the fighting while I provide them with information, but I… I won't be satisfied with that. There is only one more day left, so please Urahara-san, teach me how to combat hollows."

"So that is what's bothering you," Urahara said, still focused on the contraption in front of him. In fact, he didn't even take his eyes away from his work when Inui pleaded. "There, it's finished. And just in time," Urahara raised the headphone-like instrument and stared at it admiringly. "Don't worry Inui-kun," he said, finally giving his full attention to the boy. "I never had the intention of letting you fall behind the others in terms combat ability."

* * *

_Fubukihime? Is it an ice-type zanpakuto like Rukia's?_ Ichigo thought as Echizen prepared to attack. _If it is, then I better avoid getting hit or else I'd be immobilized._ Ichigo assumed a defensive stance, and Echizen dashed straight towards him. They locked swords for a few seconds, then suddenly, the propeller-like blades on Echizen's sword started to spin, and a column of spinning cold air surrounded his soul slayer. Ichigo felt the ice-cold wind blow against him, and cautiously jumped back. Even though they were already a few meters apart, Ichigo could still feel the temperature of the air around him decreasing. 

"What's the matter Kurosaki-senpai? Don't tell me we're going to stop now. And here I thought you enjoyed cutting me up," the first year said sarcastically. The chilly air around his soul slayer was now spinning so fast that it was already visible because of the frozen water particles in it.

_This kid, it seems that he really did achieve shikai. Right now, it might be dangerous to go near him. I'll keep my distance for now and see what he's going to do,_ Ichigo thought. Then suddenly, the freshman pointed his sword at his mentor and a rush of icy air blew towards Ichigo's direction. The orange-haired shinigami quickly moved out of the way and avoided being covered in ice like the ground where he stood just a few moments ago.

"Eh, I missed," Echizen said, pretending to be surprised. By this time, there was also a funnel of cold air about a meter in radius spinning around the freshman, and the dry desert-like terrain around him was now covered in a layer of frost. But even though his hair and clothes were fluttering a little despite the strong wind, his body didn't seem to be affected by the cold at all.

"Don't get cocky brat," Ichigo said, though he was really happy that Echizen achieved shikai. "In case you haven't noticed, my soul slayer has been in its released state the entire time. I've just been holding back to avoid killing you accidentally." _I'll have to strike him quick and escape before I get frozen. _Ichigo thought as he charged past the freezing wind surrounding the younger boy. He realized that the cold wind wasn't as threatening when he was moving faster than it. He got to Echizen in no time and swung his sword with a little more power than before. _Impossible._ Ichigo thought as his soul slayer clashed with Echizen's. _With his current level of reiatsu, I was sure that he couldn't catch me or even have the strength to stop my attack_

"What's the matter Kurosaki-senpai? It seems that your attack you've gotten weaker," Echizen said behind their soul slayers.

_So that's what happened._ Ichigo finally realized why the freshman managed to stop his attack. _When I passed by the cyclone around him, my speed has dropped a little. And the spinning wind around his soul slayer reduced the impact of my blow. If that's the case…_Ichigo released more of his reiatsu as he increased the pressure on his sword. Eventually, he overpowered the freshman, sending the younger boy flying back, with a small wound on his chest. The small cyclone surrounding Echizen disappeared, as if it needs concentration to maintain, though the one surrounding his sword didn't seem to slow down at all.

"Ouch, that hurt, Kurosaki-senpai," Echizen said as he slowly stood up. He noticed that the wound on his chest, as well as the rest of his wounds seem to bleed less when he released his soul slayer. "I have to pay you back for that before we finish."

"I know what you're thinking." Ichigo said. "Not only does your soul slayer reduce the speed and power of my attacks, but because I'm struggling against the strong wind and the cold temperature, my stamina will decrease much faster than the usual, am I correct? I must say that's a pretty useful thing you have there, but it won't work on me."

"We'll see about that," Echizen said as the air around him started to spin again.

* * *

"Toushiro-kun, who are those two over there?" Tezuka asked the white-haired shinigami, who was quietly sipping tea beside him. There were only two hours left before the 48-hour training period ends, and the two of them decided to use the remaining time to rest before Tezuka and the others proceed with the field exercise. 

_After everything that I thought him, he still treats me like a kid. _Hitsugaya thought bitterly._ At least he's very talented like… well, like me when I was still in the shinigami academy. But still, I'm almost a hundred years older than him, and he should treat me more seriously._ "That's Abarai Renji, and Kuchiki Rukia. Why did you ask?" He answered, referring to the two shinigami seated across the table. While Renji and Rukia were talking, Kaidoh was taking a nap at the corner of the room, and Fuji was reading a book on intermediate level demon arts that Rukia gave him.

"They've been whispering to each other and looking at me for a while now," Tezuka said.

"I think I have an idea why," Hitsugaya tried to ignore the thought that just came across his mind.

"I'm so hungry Kurosaki-senpai!" Echizen said as he and Ichigo entered the room, both of them looking worn out and tired, though Ichigo still remained uninjured.

"Yeah me too. We haven't eaten since we started training." The orange-haired shinigami replied.

"If I wasn't so hungry, I could've gotten you back for the wounds you gave me," Echizen said, though he was very satisfied with the results of their training.

"Hey, I already said it's nothing personal," For a moment there, Ichigo thought that the freshman was really serious. "Besides Tessai did say that he will fix you up after he brings our food."

"Yo! Ichigo!" Renji yelled as he and Rukia asked the substitute shinigami to join their hushed conversation. Echizen saw his two senpais at the table and joined them. Tessai came in shortly after, carrying a tray full of food and a small bag of bandages and other healing supplies.

* * *

"No way! Why me?" Ichigo complained out loud. 

"Because you were the last one to arrive! Now go and ask him," Rukia yelled back as she forced a piece of paper into Ichigo's hand. Renji said nothing and tried his best not to laugh.

"All right, all right, if this is worth as much as you claim it to be, I'm going to do it," Ichigo took a deep breath before he spoke again. "Um, Tezuka-san, could you please do us a little favor?"

"What is it?" Tezuka replied, deeply curious about what the three had been talking about for the past few minutes.

"Could you please read these few lines out loud for us," Ichigo said as he gave the Seigaku captain the piece of paper. Rukia turned on something like a tape recorder under the table.

"My name is Kuchiki Byakuya and I am the captain of the sixth division. I use kidoh to straighten my hair and my personal motto is: tough guys have pink reiatsu. What is this?" Tezuka asked after he read the first two lines on the paper. He looked further down the note, and found that other sentences contained the same kind of sillyness. However, Renji, Ichigo, and Rukia were literally on the floor and laughing hard and were unable to answer him. Hitsugaya looked politely away and tried his best to ignore their infectious laughter.

"I'm glad everyone's enjoying themselves," Urahara said as he entered the room, and caught the three naughty shinigami laughing their hearts out. He was followed by Inui, who looked so worn out with his black shinigami robes torn and his eyeglasses cracked. "It seems that a handful of the training pairs are already here," Urahara said after looking around. "Let's just wait for the others, and then I can give out the instructions for the field exercise."

* * *

Notes: I'll move this to the Bleach section for a while in case anyone there would be interested in this fic. Also, when I was writing this chapter, I had a little trouble with Inui and Urahara's conversation because the first one I came up with was quite touching and emotional, but then I remembered that it was Inui who was talking and his lines were so sappy that I had to rewrite the whole scene. And in case anyone didn't get the last scene, Byakuya and Tezuka have the same voice actor. Please review after reading, I really appreciate them. 


	13. Field Exercise

Title: Princes of Death: A High-spirited Saga

Author: chibi-kyuubi

Genre: Action/Adventure/General

Rating: K+

Summary: Prince of Tennis and Bleach crossover. The Seigaku regulars go to Karakura Town for an exhibition match, but end up getting influenced by Ichigo's reiatsu. Will they be able to master their newfound powers before it is too late to save Tokyo City from being turned into a base of operations by Aizen's minions?

Disclaimer: I neither own Bleach nor Prince of Tennis.

* * *

Chapter 13: Field Exercise

Exactly 48 hours had passed since the Seigaku regulars began their shinigami training underneath Urahara's shop. Their allotted training period had just ended, and the young shinigami and their mentors gathered at the room where all of them had met exactly two days ago. They helped themselves to a generous lunch, and received first aid from Tessai as they waited for the instructions of their field exam.

"Hey, Fuji-senpai, what do you think the field exercise is going to be like?" Momoshiro asked the tennis prodigy seated next to him. The regulars were seated next to each other on one side of the large circular table and the other shinigami were seated opposite them.

"Knowing Urahara-san, it's going to be something dangerous. Even though he calls it an exercise, you better be prepared or you could die. At least that was what Kuchiki-san told me when I asked her the same question," Fuji answered. Momoshiro swallowed hard, not because he was afraid of doing something dangerous, but because his senpai smiled sadistically at him the entire time.

"Are you sure you can do this Eiji?" Oishi asked his doubles partner after he overheard what Fuji told the sophomore. Kikumaru looked very tired and had bandages wrapped around his fists and legs because of all the injuries he received during training. Oishi however, was uninjured despite the rips and tears on his shinigami clothing.

"Yep! I'm perfectly fine Oishi." The red haired boy raised a fist and pretended to be full of energy. "Besides, these wounds are nothing compared to the ones ochibi, Kaidoh, and Taka-san have."

"I guess you're right," The team vice captain said after taking another look at Echizen, Kaidoh and Kawamura, who could have easily been mistaken for mummies because of all their bandages. "But promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise," Kikumaru said with a nod and his usual cheerful smile.

"All right everyone, here's what's going to happen," Urahara said half an hour later after Ururu and Jinta cleared the table, and everyone had settled down. "Each of you will take one of these and enter the training chamber." Urahara showed them something that resembled a large, white medicine tablet. "After you find a comfortable spot, you crush this and let it dissipate into the air. It is an improved version of hollow bait that will lure hollows to a specific location. Don't worry. It will only draw out weak hollows because higher level hollows are smart enough to differentiate bait from the real thing."

_Yeah right. _Ichigo and Rukia thought as they remembered what happened last time when Ishida used a similar kind of hollow bait during their petty quincy versus shinigami contest.

"But of course, fighting weak hollows is no fun at all, so Inui-kun came up with an idea to make things a little more… interesting," Urahara continued with a devilish smile concealed behind his fan. "Inui-kun, please continue from here."

Inui stood up and adjusted his glasses. "While we are fighting the hollows underground, the other shinigami will be monitoring the hollows' and our movements using Urahara's equipment upstairs. And as an added rule, the person who purifies the least number of hollows after the exercise will have to drink this," Inui pulled out a beer mug full of black liquid that that emitted a cloud of red smoke and had the smell of rotten eggs. "I call it, Inui juice: Tessai remix. It is a unique kind of Inui juice made from Tessai-san's herbal medicine and other suspicious things found in the storage hold of this shop. It is good for both the body and soul." Everyone's face turned sickly blue as they observed the bubbles forming on the surface of the viscous liquid. The Seigaku regulars felt that they had moved a step closer to understanding what fear really means.

"Thank god we won't have to drink that," Renji whispered to Ichigo. "The unlucky guy who drinks that would probably lose his internal organs the next time he goes to the toilet."

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed, feeling slightly relieved.

"Of course, it would only be half as fun if only one person drinks it," Inui pulled out another mug of the vile drink. "The assigned mentor will also have to drink a mug of Inui juce: Tessai remix, because of his or her poor training. Don't worry. It's also the most delicious variation of Inui juice yet."

"What!" The other shinigami protested.

"Why did you agree with this Kisuke?" Yoruichi yelled.

"Because I'm pretty sure Inui-kun won't lose," Urahara said confidently.

"Same goes for me," Ikkaku said without even looking at Kawamura. He found the boy annoying at best when the Seigaku regular was meek and friendly, but the two of them got along very well when Kawamura was in burning mode.

"Yes, sensei, I won't disappoint you." Kawamura nodded. _If I drink that, I'm going to die._ The Seigaku senior thought.

"Remember this Kaidoh, if we drink that thing and survive, I'm going to kill you," Renji threatened.

"Don't worry Abarai-sensei, I have no intentions of drinking that thing either," the sophomore replied.

"Same goes for you Ryoma," Ichigo said.

"I won't lose, Kurosaki-senpai," the freshman said with a confident grin.

Rukia and Fuji looked at each other and immediately understood each other. _It would be troublesome if we had to drink that. _Fuji thought.

"Don't be scared Toushiro-kun, I won't let you drink such a horrible thing," Tezuka placed a reassuring hand on young shinigami captain's head as they stood up to proceed with the field exercise.

* * *

"I think we could stop here," Oishi suggested. He and Kikumaru had arrived at a corner of Urahara's subterranean wasteland which was unoccupied, aside from Fuji whom he could spot several meters away.

"I'll go first," Kikumaru said as he crushed the hollow bait with his hands. He and Oishi had agreed to fight the hollows together because they figured out that it would be safer, and Inui didn't mention anything in the rules about teaming up.

"Okay, now it's my turn," the Seigaku vice captain said shortly afterwards. He followed Urahara's instructions, and then the two of them waited for what was going to happen next. After a few moments of silence, they heard the sharp screeching of a hollow coming from above them. They looked up, and saw that the fake sky and clouds painted on the chamber's ceiling had become terribly distorted. "Get ready Eiji, there's at least fifty of them heading towards our direction. I could feel them."

"Got it," the red-haired boy said as he prepared to attack. He crouched a little, and then focused his reiatsu on his arms and legs, which were now covered with a faint blue glow. Beside him, Oishi pointed his palms at the warped sky above them and whispered some kind of chant. "There!" Eiji said as a handful of humanoid hollows materialized several meters above them. He jumped high up to intercept the falling monsters, breaking their masks using his bare fists and powerful kicks.

"Destructive Art #31, Shakkaho!" Oishi yelled, and a red ball of energy shot out of his palms, headed towards a hollow that was just out of Kikumaru's reach. It hit the monster right in the middle of its mask, causing it to disintegrate instantaneously.

"Nice, Oishi," Kikumaru complimented as he landed skillfully beside his partner. "Yoruichi san-thought me that too, but I think I forgot it already."

"Please leave some for me next time, I don't want to drink Inui Juice too," Oishi reminded his partner as he readied another spell.

"Sorry, I'll make sure to just beat them up next time," Kikumaru replied as he jumped up again to attack the next wave of hollows falling towards them.

* * *

_Since most of them can't fly, my best chance is to kill as many as I could before they touch the ground, _Fuji thought as the area above him started to swirl from the dimension-crossing of the hollows. "Destructive Art #33, Sokatsui!" He yelled, and a large blue sphere burst from his hands hitting the nearest hollow, and destroying its upper body completely.

_I won't drink that! I won't drink that! I absolutely won't._ It was the only thought on Kaidoh and Momoshiro's minds as they fought off the hollows appearing in their respective areas. Kaidoh used his warping ability to get behind the hollows and hit them at the weak spot behind the masks, and Momoshiro used his ability to distort the opponent's spiritual senses to distract the hollows and attack them when they leave an opening.

"Angle of enemy's attack: 35 degrees. Chance of it hitting me: zero percent," Inui muttered to himself as he stood still and cut off the hollow's arm as it passed by to his right. Inui's soul slayer appeared like a normal katana with a black hilt and an eye design on its circular hand guard. _It seems that these low level hollows have terrible accuracy, _Inui thought as the hollow screamed in pain. _And they're too slow._ Before the hollow could swing its remaining arm towards Inui, the Seigaku regular had already managed to get behind the hollow. _As a shinigami, not only the speed of my calculations has increased, but the speed of my movements as well. _Inui thrust his soul slayer right trough center of the hollow's head, the tip of his sword coming out on the other side, right in the middle of the hollow's eyes, destroying its mask completely.

"Get out of my way! BURNING!" Kawamura yelled as he purified two hollows in one wide slash, and effortlessly dispatched the others standing on his way.

* * *

Echizen had just finished off the group of hollows that appeared within his immediate vicinity when he caught sight of Tezuka quite some distance away from him. The Seigaku captain stood still in the middle of the dry landscape, doing nothing except probably relaxing. Echizen was about to let him be, when a group of hollows suddenly materialized a few meters around the senior, surrounding him completely.

"Buchou! Watch out!" Echizen yelled as he ran towards the senior, who did nothing when the hollows suddenly dashed towards him.

* * *

Notes: I've just edited out the vast number of grammatical errors in this chapter. Also, Fuji using demon arts is obvious, since Rukia was the one who thought him. But how about Oishi? Don't worry, it will all be explained in due time. Thanks to all reviewers, and please keep on reviewing.


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